ST. PAUL, Minn.  – The 24th-ranked Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (19-6, 14-5 NSIC) secured its third straight victory on Friday evening, overcoming an early double-digit deficit to secure a dominant 87-66 win over Northern State (2-23, 1-18 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center.

With the win, the Golden Bears matched their highest win total in conference play with 14, tying the 2014-15 squad that finished 14-8 in NSIC play. Concordia's 19 wins overall are tied for second most in program history, trailing only the 2006-07 team that finished 21-8 overall. CSP now has a 9-34 all-time record against Northern State, including a mark of 7-11 at the Gangelhoff Center.

After a slow start that saw the Golden Bears trail by as many as 15 points in the opening minutes, Concordia found its groove and clawed back to lead by three at halftime. CSP dominated the second half, outscoring NSU 56-38 to secure the 21-point win.

Senior swingman Marcus Skeete was red-hot from beyond the arc for Concordia, hitting six of his nine attempts from beyond the arc on his way to a 26-point, nine rebound performance. His six three pointers were a new career high.

Sophomore Ben Kopetzki also finished in double figures, scoring 13 points while pulling down seven rebounds and adding five assists.

Junior Reid Patterson went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc to lead the bench effort with nine points.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons notched his fifth double-double of the season in the game, tying his career high with 10 assists while adding 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Senior forward Cade Meyer flirted with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Northern State dominated the early minutes of the first half, opening up a 22-7 lead less than eight minutes into the game. The Golden Bears took control of the pace of play from that point, closing the half on a 24-6 scoring run to take a 31-28 lead into the intermission.

The Golden Bears finished the half 11-of-28 (39.3%) from the field while the Wolves were 11-of-32 (34.4%). Concordia also won the battle on the glass with a 25-15 edge in rebounding in the half.

CSP carried its first-half momentum into the second half, opening the half on a 27-13 scoring run that made it 58-41 in favor of CSP at the 13:23 mark. The lead never dipped below 14 from that point on as Concordia cruised to a 21-point win.

For the game, Concordia shot 33-of-71 (46.5%) from the field and 13-of-33 (39.4%) from beyond the arc while limiting Northern State to 26-of-65 (40%) overall and 7-of-22 (31.8%) from beyond the arc. The Golden Bears outrebounded the Wolves 47-32, including an 11-3 edge in offensive rebounds that allowed CSP to outscore NSU 17-4 in second chance points.

The Golden Bears will wrap up their regular season home schedule on Saturday afternoon, hosting MSU Moorhead (17-8, 12-7 NSIC) at 3:30 p.m.