SIOUX FALLS – On a history-making night, the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (18-9, 13-8 NSIC), led by junior guard Trevon Evans with 35 points, continued its last season surge with a 79-68 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over Concordia St. Paul (5-22, 4-17 NSIC) on Ron Eiesland Court at the Stewart Center on Friday night.

USF, which has won 8-of-11 games, swept CSP this season and extended its winning streak to four games against the Golden Bears. The Cougars also set a program DII-best overall mark with its 18th victory, surpassing the 17 of the 2015-16 USF team. In addition, they picked up a program-DII best 13th league win (21 games), which bettered the mark of the 2013-14 team that finished 12-10.

"I am exceptionally pleased with the effort of this group of guys tonight," said USF Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Johnson, who earned his 190th career win, including 174 with the Cougars. "Trevon was pretty special tonight. But everyone stepped up and played hard tonight. It was really great how they charged to a lead right away and held off the Golden Bears all night," he added.

With the victory, USF moved into a tie for third in the NSIC South and could clinch the three seed for the NSIC Tournament next week with a victory against Minnesota State on Senior Day Saturday at 6 p.m. USF already has clinched the right to host a first round NSIC Tourney game on Wednesday.

Against the Golden Bears, Evans was special with his 35 points, four assists and four rebounds. He knocked home 11-of-22 field goals, including 3-of-8 from three-point range and 10-of-11 at the foul line.

For Evans, who now has 542 points on the season, which is the most by a USF player in the program's DII-era. It also ranks 14th all-time at USF.

USF built a 17-point lead in the first half before taking a 45-33 advantage to halftime. CSP, which crawled within four at 67-63 late in the second half, outscored USF, 35-34, after halftime but couldn't get over the hump and into the lead. Each time the Golden Bears drew close, Evans directed a USF response in which they held off the visitors.

For Evans, he reached 30 points for a team-best fifth time this season. He also surpassed 20 points for the 14th time and double digits for the 23rd time in 26 games. Two other players reached double digits for USF, including Drew Guebert, who had 11 points, five rebounds and two assists, despite being hampered by foul trouble and playing just 22 minutes. He moved in 11th place all-time in scoring at USF with 1,334 points as he passed former Cougar great Joel Running (1985-88), who had 1,323 points.

Teathloach Pal recorded his third double double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds while rejecting three shots and recording two steals. Freshman Drew Maschoff added nine points for USF, which hit 45.2 percent from the field on 28-of-62 shooting. The Cougars converted 6-of-20 from three-point range and were just 17-of-26 from the foul line for 65.4 percent or eight percentage points off their average.

USF held up its rankings as the league's top rebounding outfit by outboarding CSP, 39-27. USF tied a season high with eight blocks while recording eight steals. As for the visitors, CSP was 28-of-58 form the field for 48.3 percent, including just 4-of-14 from three-point range for 28.6 percent. Bryndan Mathews had 22 points to lead the Golden Bears.

Game Breakdown –

The Cougars, which shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) in the first half, took control of the game early with a 17-4 (14:14) burst out of the gate, which included two three-point field goals from Guebert and one from Maschoff.  Midway through the first half, CSP began an 8-0 run in which they cut the deficit to 26-22 at the 7:49 mark.  

But as would be the case for most of the night, when the Cougars felt some pressure from CSP, Evans had a response. He scored 13 points, including 10 in a row at one point, to fuel a 15-2 run and give USF a 41-24 lead with 2:20 to play. CSP cut the lead to 10 with 36 seconds left on a lay-up from Ahmad Newsome but Evans, who had 17 points at halftime, stopped the momentum with a jumper in the closing seconds as USF took a 45-33 lead to halftime.

After USF built the lead to 14 (19:38) after a pair of Maschoff free throws, CSP had a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 47-40 with 17:33 to play. But Evans stopped the run and Pal had a lay-up inside as the Cougars regained an 11-point lead at 51-40 (16:05).

The Golden Bears again made a run at USF, trimming the deficit to six points at 53-47 before the Cougars, led by Pal and Evans, who combined for nine points during a 2:23 stretch, regained the lead at 58-47. On this night, the runs seemed to go back and forth with the Cougars being able to hold off CSP. The Golden Bears drew within five at 61-56 with 7:40 to play when Mathews converted inside. With 5:05 to go, they cut the lead to 67-63 when Ahmad Newsome converted a drive as the Cougars called a 30-second time out.

Once again, Evans stepped up scored six straight points and reestablishing a 10-point lead at 73-63 and just 3:42 to play. Two foul shots by Guebert pushed the advantage to 12 and CSP cut draw no closer than seven (75-68, 2:27) the rest of the way.