Men’s hoops feast on Concordia

Maverick star guard Malik Willingham showed he was hungry for Thanksgiving and feasted on the Concordia-St. Paul Bears Tuesday. 

The Mavericks remain undefeated as they beat CSP 96-78. Willingham contributed a career-high 41 of those points as he shot 73% from behind the arc going 8-11. Willingham also gave out four assists and brought in five rebounds. The laundry list of stats continued as he hit on 13 field goals and only missed one free throw going seven for eight within the first 18 minutes of play. 

Willingham is second in points per game in the NSIC behind Concordia’s senior guard Antwan Kimmons who is averaging 27.4 per game. Kimmons led the Bears with 34 points hitting three threes and 11 field goals. His performance ultimately wasn’t enough to keep the Bears in the game. 

The game started off heavily contested as the Mavs were down 16-8 five minutes into the contest. Over the next seven minutes of the half, MSU chipped away at the score. They held the Bears to nine points while they put up 17. The battle to end CSP’s run ended with senior guard Trevor Moore hitting a jump shot that tied the game 25-25 at the 8:17 mark. 

The Bears and Mavs fought for control of the score until the half ended. The lead changed three times until MSU ultimately came out on top with a score of 40-37. 

The second half brought a back-and-forth game between Willingham and Kimmons. Willingham brought in 23 points in the second for the Mavs while Kimmons had 24. Ultimately, Willingham had more help which gave the Mavs the upper hand. 

The Mavs shot 50.8% from the field and out-rebounded the Bears 37-28. Sophomores Harrison Braudis and Tyrell Stuttley both contributed 11 points while only one of Concordia’s players could get into double-digit scoring. 

After the win, MSU moved on to play a non-conference game Bethany Lutheran at home Saturday. Another win for the Mavs brought their record to 7-0 keeping the undefeated streak alive. 

Next, they travel to Winona State to play the Warriors who are currently 4-1. 

Header Photo: Malik Willingham (above) picked up 41 of 96 points scored against Concordia St.-Paul at home at the Taylor Center Tuesday, Nov. 22. (Dylan Engel/The Reporter)

Write to Luke Jackson at Luke.Jackson@mnsu.edu