ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (3-1) made it three wins in a row with a wild 108-101 victory over Northern Michigan (3-3) in their home opener at Gangelhoff Center on Saturday afternoon.
Concordia surged out to a 54-36 halftime lead before ballooning the lead all the way out to 26 with 12 minutes to play but had to weather the storm as NMU battled back to within three with a massive 25-2 run midway through the second half. CSP showed their resilience as they maintained their advantage to pick up their first win in three all-time meetings with the Wildcats.
CSP's 108 points were tied for seventh-most in program history and the most since scoring 118 points just over five years ago on Nov. 11, 2018 against Arkansas Tech. Their 30 free throws made also tied for fourth-most and registered in as the most since making 33 at Wayne State on Jan. 10, 2015.
Much of the contest was spent at the free throw line as the two teams combined for 74 free throws with CSP going 30-35 (85.7%) and NMU going 32-39 (82.1%) in the game. While both teams shot similarly from the floor overall with the Golden Bears at 32-69 (46.4%) and Northern Michigan at 32-71 (45.1%), the big differential came from beyond the arc as Concordia buried 14-31 (45.2%) compared to 5-20 (25.0%) for the Wildcats as that proved to be the difference.
The former Tartan High School pairing of
Antwan Kimmons and
Jordan Horn combined for 57 of the team's 108 points as Kimmons led all players with 29 points while Horn added 28. Kimmons filled the box score with seven rebounds and five assists while hitting 9-12 from the field, 3-4 from deep and 8-9 from the line while Horn pulled down five boards, dished out four assists and went a near-perfect 16-18 from the charity stripe.
The pair was joined in double figures by
Ian Sluice, who connected on 5-8 from three-point range to finish with 15 points, and
Marcus Skeete, who hit 5-8 for 10 points in the win.
Reid Patterson added eight points, two rebounds and a pair of made threes while
Sean Mathieu chipped in five points, four boards and three assists off the bench.
Brian Parzych scored 21 of his team-high 25 points in the second half in the loss for Northern Michigan.
After the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening minute and a half of the game, Concordia grabbed the lead for good as they claimed 10 of the next 12 to take control. The margin remained within a few possessions until the midpoint of the first half when the Golden Bears rattled off a 12-0 run to turn a 30-21 edge into a comfortable 42-21 advantage with 6:14 left before the break. That lead would not shrink below 16 the rest of the half as Concordia held a 54-36 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Northern Michigan chipped away to pull within a dozen in the first few minutes of the second half, but a Kimmons three followed by eight Horn technical free throws in a wild stretch of play extended the lead all the way to 76-52 with 14:44 left on the clock. CSP eventually extended it to a game-high 26 at 83-57 with 12:07 to go before the Wildcats made their move.
The visitors scored the next 17 points in a row before adding eight more after two Kimmons free throws to string together a 25-2 burst in just 4:40 of play to make it a one possession game at 85-82 with 6:38 left. The Golden Bears stood strong as they scored eight of nine, including six straight from Horn, to push it back to double digits at 93-83. NMU had the deficit back down to three at 98-95 and again at 100-97 before Sluice knocked down a crucial three off a feed from Horn to double the lead at 103-07 with two minutes to go. Concordia maintained a two possession or better lead down the stretch as they secured the 108-101 victory.
CSP opens up NSIC play on the road on Tuesday as they travel to Winona State at 5:30 p.m.
