Senior guard Cortez Tillman scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, including 10-of-10 at the foul line, to lead No. 5-ranked St. Thomas to a 79-70 road win at Concordia-Moorhead in Monday night's MIAC men's basketball play.

The Tommies (16-1 overall, 11-1 MIAC) opened a three-game lead atop the conference standings as Carleton topped second-place St. John's in overtime to move each team to 8-4.

St. Thomas pushed its win streak to 12 and improved to 9-0 in January in a 24-day span.

UST raced to a 39-23 halftime lead and held off a late Cobber surge. The Toms shot 51 percent from the floor and converted a season-best 89 percent at the line (25-of-28).

All five UST starters scored in double figures as the Toms recorded a 72-56 advantage in starters' scoring. Taylor Montero had three treys among his 15 points. Sophomore Ryan Boll had a career-high 13 points. Ryan Saarela had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Grant Shaeffer added 13 points.

Concordia (10-7, 7-5) had won five in a row and seven of its last eight, and also had won eight of its last nine home games dating back to last season. Jordan Bolger had 18 points to lead the Cobbers.