ST. PAUL, Minn.  – In a battle of two teams jostling for position near the top of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, the Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (16-5, 11-4 NSIC) emerged victorious with a decisive 93-71 win over Minnesota State (13-9, 9-5 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center on Thursday evening.

The win marked Concordia's first over Minnesota State in over a decade, snapping a 20-game losing streak to the Mavericks that dated back to 2015. Minnesota State now holds a 36-7 advantage in the all-time series.

After Minnesota State opened the game with a 7-0 lead, the Golden Bears put together a 16-0 run of their own and never looked back. CSP never relinquished the lead after taking it, leading by as many as 25 in the second half on the way to a dominant 22-point win.

With 14 points, seven rebounds, and a block in the game, senior forward Cade Meyer crossed the 1,000-point mark in his collegiate career, now sitting at 1,002 points with 598 in two seasons at Division I Green Bay, 101 in one season at Division I Northern Kentucky, and 303 at CSP so far this season.

Antwan Kimmons filled up the box score for the Golden Bears once again, pouring in 37 points on 15-of-24 shooting while adding seven rebounds, six assists, and a steal. It was Kimmons' fourth-highest scoring output this season, and his seventh game with 30 or more points this year.

Marcus Skeete was Concordia's second leading scorer, adding 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists. Ben Kopetzki and Reid Patterson added eight points and four rebounds each for CSP, with Kopetzki also chipping in two assists.

Concordia came out slow in the first half, missing its first five attempts from the field and quickly falling in a 7-0 hole. The Golden Bears found their groove shortly after, going on a 16-0 run lasting nearly four minutes to take a 19-11 lead with 11:43 on the clock. The CSP lead grew to as many as 13 points on two separate occasions in the half, but the Mavericks cut the deficit to eight at 39-31 as the teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime.

The Golden Bear defense held up well in the first half, holding the Mavericks to just 33.3% (13-of-39) shooting from the floor and 16.7% (3-of-18) from beyond the arc while the CSP offense was 15-of-33 (45.5%) overall and 5-of-10 (50%) from deep. The Bears also held a decisive edge on the glass, outrebounding the Mavericks 27-19 in the half.

Concordia dominated the second half, outscoring the Mavericks 54-40 and leading by as many as 25 points before securing the 22-point, 93-71 victory.

For the game, the Golden Bears were 36-of-68 (52.9%) from the floor and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from beyond the arc while holding Minnesota State to just 28-of-75 (37.3%) overall and 7-of-33 (21.2%) from deep. CSP also outrebounded MSU 51-34 in the game and had a 19-17 edge in assists.

Kyreese Willingham was outstanding for Minnesota State, scoring 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting and adding five rebounds, two steals, an assist, and a block.

The Golden Bears will hit the road this weekend for a game at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 1 p.m.