ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-2) finished off a 2-0 weekend at the CSP Thanksgiving Classic as they grabbed a high-scoring 103-92 win over Upper Iowa (3-3) on Sunday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears cleared triple digits for the second time in three home games this season as they remained unbeaten on their home court. CSP also passed the 80-point threshold for the sixth time in seven games overall, moving their season average to 90.1 points per game.
 
The win moved Concordia to 16-24 in the all-time series as they snapped UIU's six-game winning streak in the series, improving to 7-13 in 20 meetings in St. Paul.
 
Jordan Horn played a huge role in the offensive outburst as he scored 27 of his career-best 37 points in the second half as he hit 11-22 from the floor and 12-14 from the free throw line in the victory. His 37 points were third-most in the DII era at Concordia, trailing only Matt Cadwell's 46 against UIU on Feb. 28, 2009 and Antwan Kimmons' 38 against UIU on Feb. 16, 2023. He added seven boards and a pair of assists in the win.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears cleared 50.0% shooting for the second day in a row as they knocked down 51.6% (33-64) from the floor and 41.7% (10-24) from beyond the arc. They edged the Peacocks in both categories as UIU hit 45.7% (37-81) overall and 20.0% (4-20) from deep in the loss. Concordia also held a significant advantage from the free throw line as they hit 27 free throws compared to 14 for Upper Iowa as well as a massive 29-2 advantage in bench scoring.
 
Ben Kopetzki put up a career-best performance of his own as he poured in 19 points on 5-9 shooting and 7-8 from the line off the bench. Japannah Kellogg nearly missed a double-double with 15 points and nine boards while he hit six of his eight shot attempts. Sean Mathieu also flirted with a double-double with 12 points and eight assists in the win.
 
UIU's Jake Hilmer matched Horn with a game-high 37 points as he connected on 17-29 from the floor in the loss.
 
Ian Sluice knocked down a three just five seconds into the contest and the Golden Bears were off and running from there. With their lead at one at 9-8 three and a half minutes in, CSP rattled off a quick 9-0 run to push it to double figures at 18-8. The lead reached a dozen at 22-10 and again at 24-12 before a 14-2 run in favor of Upper Iowa evened the score at 26-26 with 7:43 left before the break. Concordia eventually had it back in double digits at 46-35 with 1:50 to go before six straight points for UIU made it 46-42 after 20 minutes of play.
 
The second half proved to be much more back and forth with six of the game's seven ties and all eight lead changes came after the break. The Peacocks quickly extended their run to 10-0 as they tied it up at 46-46, setting up a stretch of seven minutes in which neither team led by more than five. Concordia had the lead back up to six at 66-60 with 11:29 to play, but an extended 13-6 run the other way had the Peacocks out front for the first time of the night at 73-72.
 
After a few minutes of jostling back and forth between the two teams, the Golden Bears compiled the decisive run as they used a 13-2 run to turn an 82-81 Upper Iowa lead with 5:37 left into a 94-84 advantage with 2:15 to go. The lead would not shrink below six the rest of the way as CSP secured the 103-92 victory.
 
Concordia will look to continue their winning ways next weekend as they host Augustana at 12 p.m. on Saturday and Wayne State at 2 p.m. on Sunday in their NSIC home opening weekend.