ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (10-6, 5-5 NSIC) improved to 6-2 on its home floor this season with an 89-78 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Minnesota Crookston (3-13, 1-9 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.

The Golden Bears overcame a slow start and managed to carve out an 11-point lead at halftime, and maintained the double-digit advantage throughout the second half to secure their third consecutive home win.

With the win, Concordia is now 30-10 all-time against Minnesota Crookston, including a record of 15-4 at the Gangelhoff Center. CSP has taken the last three meetings, winning by double digits each time.

Ben Kopetzki recorded his 10^th game of the season with 20 or more points, tying for the game high in scoring with 24 on 9-of-18 shooting. The junior also led the team in rebounds with seven and tied his season high with six assists.

Sophomore Owen Carlson also had a strong shooting performance, knocking down seven of his 12 attempts from the field for 22 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and a block.

Junior Jaden Wysocki finished with 13 points on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting from the field, while junior Chet Kloss added 11 points and six rebounds. Marcus Burks led the CSP reserves with six points off the bench.

Concordia was slow out of the gate in the first half, as Minnesota Crookston scored the game's first five points and led 8-2 shortly after. The Golden Bears took control from there, going on a 13-2 run to take a 15-10 advantage in the game's lone lead change. The game remained close in the following minutes, but CSP began to pull away late in the half as they led by as many as 16 on the way to an 11-point lead at halftime. The Golden Bears shot the ball well from deep in the opening period, hitting seven of their 11 three-point attempts.

The Golden Bear lead never dipped below 10 in the second half and peaked as high as 20 on three occasions. UMC chipped away at the deficit in the game's waning minutes, but it proved too much to overcome as Concordia walked away with the 89-78 victory.

Concordia shot 31-of-60 (51.7%) from the field in the game and shot above that mark from deep, going 10-of-19 (52.6%) from beyond the arc. UMC finished 27-of-67 (40.3%) overall and 11-of-33 (33.3%) from deep. The Golden Bears dominated the lane, outscoring the Golden Eagles 40-24 in the painted area. CSP also had a distinct edge on fast break opportunities with an 11-0 scoring advantage in the category.

The Golden Eagles were led by Alijah Washington with 24 points, while Spencer Swenson added 19.

The Golden Bears will travel west next weekend for road games at Jamestown (9-7, 7-3 NSIC) and Northern State (6-10, 6-4 NSIC) on Friday and Saturday.