Feb. 16– Sophomore forward Craig Heiman (Marshall, Wis.) had one of the highest scoring outputs in school history, pouring in 36 points to lead Concordia University (14-11, 8-8 NSIC) to a 79-61 win at Upper Iowa University (7-18, 6-10 NSIC) on Saturday evening at Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa.



Heiman's 36 points were the third most in a single game in school history, behind Curt Kietzer's school record of 40 points against Mary in the 1984-85 season and three other players who scored 37 points, most recently Josh Delich in 2001-02 against Minnesota, Crookston.

He was 12-19 from the field, 6-11 from three-point territory and 6-6 at the foul line and collected seven rebounds with three assists and three steals in 40 minutes of action for the Golden Bears.

He has now scored 435 points on the season, 36 points by Louis Carter (1981-82) for sixth in school history for a single season, and he is 94 points shy of Brian Jamros' (2003-04) single season record of 529 points.

Just like in the women's game earlier in the evening, the Golden Bears led from start to finish, although the game was scoreless for two minutes until Heiman drained his first of six three-pointers as Concordia opened up a 7-0 lead behind five early points from Heiman and a lay-up by fellow sophomore Mike Cunningham (right, Minneapolis, Minn.).

But the real damage was done when CU tore off a 15-0 run to break the game open with a 30-9 lead with 7:24 to play in the half. Five different players scored during the run that lasted three minutes and 47 seconds led by James Metcalf (Sr., G, Killeen, Texas) with five points and Chris Pfeiffer (below, Fr., F, Hopkins, Minn.) with four.



The Golden Bears would lead by as much as 22 in the first half, 38-16 with 2:16 until the break.

Heiman scored 15 of his 36 in the first half on 6-10 shooting and 3-6 three-point shooting without a foul shot attempt. Metcalf added 11 in the opening half as Concordia shot 55.2% (16-29) as a team.

In the second half the lead was never trimmed to single digits as Concordia cruised for the win to avenge their 71-68 loss at home to the Peacocks on Jan. 11 at the Gangelhoff Center.

Heiman was even hotter in the second half with 21 points.

Metcalf finished the contest with 16 points while Cunningham had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Senior center Chuol Chany (Des Moines, Iowa) led Concordia's rebounding effort with eight while also scoring five points and posting three blocked shots.

Jude Roybal led Upper Iowa with 20 points on 8-16 shooting while AJ Adkins scored 11 off the bench.

CU shot 55.8% (29-52) as a team while holding the Peacocks to 40.0% (22-55) shooting from the floor and a sparse 4-20 (20.0%) from three-point distance.

The win for the Golden Bears puts them back at .500 in the league standings and in sole possession of fifth place, a game out of fourth for home court advantage but also only a game ahead of sixth.

Heading into the final weekend of the season, the Golden Bears host the third place Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State (10-6 NSIC) on Friday night before facing fourth place Wayne State (9-7 NSIC) on Saturday in the pivotal final weekend of NSIC regular season action.

The top four seeds all receive first round home games but Concordia can finish as low as seventh in the standings as MSU Moorhead (7-9 NSIC) and Upper Iowa (6-10 NSIC) are in striking distance.

photos by Bob Cunningham

BOX SCORE - CU 79, Upper Iowa 61