ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (12-6, 7-5 NSIC) secured its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon with a 78-73 win at Northern State (S.D.) (7-11, 7-5 NSIC) at Wachs Arena.

Concordia's four-game win streak matches its best of the season so far, and the win over Northern State marked three in a row for CSP in the all-time series between the two teams.  

Junior Ben Kopetzki was outstanding for the Golden Bears once again, leading all players in the game with 29 points, thanks in large part to a 5-of-11 shooting line from beyond the arc, while pulling down four rebounds.

Sophomore Patrick Bath had his strongest outing thus far in a Concordia uniform, leading the effort off the bench with 12 points and nine rebounds while going a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. Redshirt freshman Ryan Johnson also scored 12 points and added seven rebounds and two assists.

Freshman Jaxon Young made his collegiate debut for Concordia in the win, contributing seven points and three rebounds in seven minutes of play. Sophomore Hudson Vaith notched a career high with nine points.

Northern State grabbed a narrow lead early on and held it for most of the first half, leading by as many as six points at 14-8. Concordia claimed its first lead of the game at 20-19 near the midpoint of the opening half, but the Wolves quickly jumped back in front and held a slim advantage for the remainder of the period, clinging to a 40-39 lead at halftime.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair early on, containing three lead changes and four ties in the first 12 minutes. Concordia controlled the final minutes of the game, taking a 59-56 lead with 8:30 to play and never looking back. The Golden Bear lead reached as many as nine with 4:15 on the clock, with CSP fighting off every NSU comeback attempt and eventually securing the five-point win.

The Golden Bears were 23-of-58 (39.7%) from the field and 8-of-27 (29.6%) from beyond the arc in the game, while Northern State finished 24-of-60 (40%) from the field and 10-of-29 (34.5%) from deep. Concordia outrebounded NSU 42-37 and received strong contributions from its reserves, outscoring the Wolves 28-13 in bench points.

The Wolves were paced by Joshua Book, who finished with 23 points, seven assists, and three rebounds. James Glenn finished with 16 points, while Simon Akena joined them in double figures with 11 points.

The Golden Bears will hit the road again next weekend, playing at Bemidji State (6-11, 3-9 NSIC) on Friday and at Minnesota Duluth (10-8, 6-6 NSIC) on Saturday.