ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-16, 3-12 NSIC) pulled out a wild 86-85 overtime victory against Minot State (9-10, 6-9 NSIC) on Friday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Very little separated the two teams on the night as the contest featured a staggering 15 ties and 17 lead changes. The Golden Bears grabbed the all-important final lead of the night as junior Antwan Kimmons was fouled on three-point attempt with 1.0 second left on the clock in the extra session. Kimmons stepped up and calmly knocked down all three free throws to turn an 85-83 deficit into an 86-85 win.
 
The win was CSP's third in five meetings between the two schools in St. Paul as the Golden Bears moved to 3-7 in the all-time series.
 
Perimeter shooting played a key role in the win as Concordia knocked down a season-best 15 threes on 31 attempts (48.4%) on the night. That total tied for sixth in school history and most since they knocked down 16 at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 26, 2020. CSP defended the arc well as well, holding the Beavers to 8-24 (33.3%). The Golden Bears also held a significant advantage overall from the floor with a mark of 50.0% (28-56) compared to 40.5% (30-74) for Minot State.
 
Turnovers and rebounding kept the Beavers in the game as MiSU turned 18 CSP turnovers into 23 points while Concordia finished with 12 points off turnovers from 11 Minot State turnovers. The Beavers also held a 13-2 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in an 8-0 advantage in second chance points. CSP did manage to win the battle in transition, however, as they scored 18 points on the break compared to nine for MiSU.
 
Antwan Kimmons fell a rebound short of his second consecutive 20-10 game as he led all players with 21 points and nine boards while he dished out five assists. He was an uber-efficient 8-10 from the floor and 2-2 from deep while he also connected on all three of his attempts from the line.
 
Kimmons was one of eight Golden Bears to knock down a three-pointer and one of five to hit at least two. Jacob Everson and Emad Elniel tied for the team lead with three made threes apiece as Everson finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists while Elniel had 12 points and three boards. Marcus Skeete added nine points and six assists, hitting all six attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Minot State had five players in double figures on the night, led by 16 points for Ben Bohl. Khari Broadway followed with 15 points, seven boards and four steals.
 
Things did not get off to a great start for the Golden Bears as Minot State grabbed an early 7-3 lead before extending it all the way to 13 at 24-11 midway through the half. CSP turned it on in a big way from there as Kimmons and Everson combined to score the next 13 points of the game to tie it up at 24-24 two and a half minute later. The two teams traded threes over the next few minutes until a Sean Mathieu three and an Elniel layup put Concordia in front 35-32. The Golden Bears led the rest of the half as they took a 40-38 edge into the locker room.
 
Concordia opened the second half with five straight points to build their largest lead of the night at 45-38 with 19:06 to go in regulation, but the Beavers quickly answered with an 11-0 burst to regain the lead at 49-45 at the 16:28 mark. The two teams traded blows for much of the rest of the half with neither team finding much of an edge. After Connor Hollenbeck gave MiSU a 68-67 lead with 3:49 left, Ian Sluice scored five in a row to give CSP a 72-68 edge with just over two to play. Following a few empty possessions, Bohl and Hollenbeck each hit a pair of free throws at 1:13 and 0:11 to tie it up. Marcus Skeete connected on two of his own at the other end with 4.1 to play before Camron Dunfee hit a tough floating jumper as time expired to force the extra session.
 
The Beavers scored the first two points of overtime, but their lead would be short-lived as a 9-0 CSP run appeared to put it out of reach at 83-76 with 2:54 to go. The momentum shifted back, however, as Minot State scored the next nine, including a go-ahead jumper for Broadway with 16 seconds left on the clock. Jaxon Gunville knocked down the first of two free throws with seven seconds to go to extend the lead to 85-83 before a crucial Caden Hoffman rebound on the ensuing miss set the stage for Kimmons.
 
CSP will look to make it a weekend sweep tomorrow afternoon as they host UMary at 3:30 p.m.