ST. PAUL, Minn. – Powered by a career day from junior Ben Kopetzki, the Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-3, 3-2 NSIC) held off the University of Sioux Falls (2-8, 0-5 NSIC) for a 95-92 overtime victory on Sunday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.

The win made it three in a row for CSP against USF in a streak dating back just over a year. Sioux Falls now leads the all-time series 24-10, with a record of 10-7 at the Gangelhoff Center.

Kopetzki led all scorers with a career-high 34 points, marking the first 30-point game of his collegiate career. He shot 10-of-22 from the field, knocked down three triples, and went 11-of-14 at the free throw line while adding four rebounds and two assists. Sam West followed with 17 points, five rebounds, and a game-high eight assists, while Jaden Wysocki chipped in 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Chet Kloss also finished in double figures with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Owen Carlson added seven points off the bench.

The Golden Bears broke a 24-24 tie midway through the first half with a layup from West and surged from there, going on a 12-1 scoring run covering just over two minutes to take a 36-25 lead. The Cougars responded with a strong stretch of their own as they outscored CSP 17-8 in the following three minutes to jump back on top at 42-41, carrying a 44-41 lead into halftime shortly after.

Sioux Falls led for a majority of the second half and held a six-point lead at 79-73 with just 1:23 on the clock, but the Golden Bears closed the half on a 6-0 run ending with a free throw from Kopetzki with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.

The Cougars led by as many as three early in the extra period, but a layup from West put Concordia on top at 87-86 for the final time with 1:45 on the clock. A pair of three pointers by Sioux Falls in the final 11 seconds kept the Cougars within striking distance, but the Golden Bears did just enough at the charity stripe to stave off the comeback, going 5-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 15 seconds to secure the narrow victory.

As a team, Concordia shot 33-of-70 (47.1%) from the field and controlled the glass with a 48-40 rebounding advantage. The Golden Bears also held the edge in assists (20-15) and points in the paint (50-38). The Cougars finished 31-of-74 (41.9%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from beyond the arc.

The Cougars were led by Kyle Ingwerson with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Brogan Madson added 24 points and three rebounds.

The Golden Bears will hit the road for their final games of the calendar year next week, playing at Wayne State (Neb.) on Thursday and Augustana (S.D.) on Saturday.