Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

GAMEDAY LINKS:  WATCH LIVE & MOBILE LIVE STATS  ||  FULL LIVE STATS

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Tonight at 7 p.m., the Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team plays its season-opener at home against Mayville State (2-0) at Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia's season opener will be counted as an exhibition contest for the opposing Comets, who played MSU Moorhead in an exhibition in Moorhead, Minn. on Saturday, falling 84-51 to the Dragons.

The Golden Bears are coming into the game after going 2-1 in the exhibition season, defeating the Alumni All-Stars and Saint John's University while losing to the University of Minnesota in a game that was competitive well into the second half.

2013-14 SEASON PREVIEW

SEASON OUTLOOK
Concordia enters the 2013-14 season looking to take another step forward on the back of a solid foundation of returners that have accumulated a wide range of experiences in their careers as Golden Bears.

Juniors Terez VanPelt and Cole Olstad each made major breakthroughs in the Northern Sun last year as first year starting sophomores. VanPelt set program records in points per game (19.3), free throws made (150) and attempted (179) while dishing out 4.7 assists per game.

Olstad was right behind him in points (15.1) while leading the team in rebounding (5.0) and also getting to the foul line regularly (65-81). Both players made free throws at high rates, shooting above 80.0% while Olstad was a long distance threat, connecting on 51 three-pointers at 41.1%.

In the previous season (2011-12) as true freshmen, they were thrust into contributing and even starting roles early in their careers and produced up-and-down performances. The result was a freshman season in which they combined to start 25 games (led by 14 by Olstad) but led to lower shooting percentages (VanPelt 43.9%, Olstad 34.5%). The result was a 12-14 overall record and 9-13 finish in Northern Sun play.

"Playing as a true freshman is difficult physically and mentally but we were in a situation where we had to go through that with them in that season," said Kelly Boe, entering his eighth season as Concordia's head coach. "That experience along with coming into their sophomore season with more strength and awareness of what it takes to go through a college basketball season in our conference really helped them break out (last year)."

The numbers speak for themselves as the duo led the Golden Bears all season long. And while the breakout was dynamic and a program-shifting change, it didn't translate into wins and losses.

Boe continued, "When I look at last year, we were able to develop some high-level performers that we can count on in the future. I never thought of last year as a low point for us, and I think we'll look back and find out that it was a high point as far as how we're developing the program. I see it as a process we had to go through at the time, losing a lot of talent the year before putting us in a position to through a point of transition."

The program was hit by eight losses of 6-points or less throughout the season, which ended with a loss in the first round of the NSIC Tournament and an overall record of 9-18 with a 7-15 mark in the conference.

"We ended the season on a high note," Boe noted. "We were able to finish the year in a place where we were still teaching and learning. Guys were still excited to practice through January and February. As a staff, we felt we had to be really patient and accepting of mistakes but we knew they'd learn from those experiences, and we felt by the end of the year were playing really good ball."

Concordia received a boost from Cordell Smith (Coy), an athletic guard/forward presence on the wing that provided solid rebounding, defense and an added scoring threat when he was inserted into the starting lineup in the season's final 10 games. In his 10 starts, Smith averaged 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds to help spark the Golden Bears to a 6-4 record down the stretch.

Smith joins the basketball team after the football team comes to a close, which didn't cause him to miss games in 2012-13, but did force him to miss the entire preseason practice and conditioning period. Although as a wide receiver he uses his speed, athleticism and vertical ability regularly on the football field, the game conditioning is not the same.

Boe pointed to Smith becoming a starter and focal point in the team as reason for the strong finish, "Coy Smith getting into the starting lineup changed some things for us." He continued, "The reality is that he made those strides at that point in the season. He went from taking on the football transition and giving us bench minutes to taking on a role and doing some big things for us – double-doubles, hitting open jumpers – he turned his shooting around dramatically."

"That was definitely a point that sparked us. I look at this as a whole, though, his development is like Terez and Cole's and something just clicked for Coy at that point in the year and helped us get over the top. Anytime you can say that you add another good player to the mix like we did with Coy, it helps you get that much better as a team."

Entering 2013-14, Boe expects to see VanPelt, Olstad and Smith continue their development, although statistically it could be hard to increase or even replicate the season's they had last year.

"When we look at development and taking the next step, it's not going to be about the numbers with these guys," Boe explained. "We're expecting more leadership and influencing others to improve their games (like they did). They've been through the tough games. They've lost the heartbreakers and conversely they've figured out how to win those games at the end. Now, physically they are able to perform at a high level and we look for them to develop that leadership quality this year."

The example they set will be key for returning sophomore post players Shea Mandli and Mike Yahnke. "Early in the year, we counted on them a lot more. Coy coming back and emerging down the stretch allowed us to be more patient with Shea and Mike and kind of took pressure off of those guys."

Perhaps the same type of pressure that VanPelt and Olstad dealt with in their freshmen season.

Boe is looking for the same type of individual progress in Mandli and Yahnke's game that the program found in VanPelt and Olstad a year ago, which is the type of progress that could put this team over the top in 2013-14.

"This group has a lot to prove," said Boe of 2013-14 expectations. "I think the experiences they gained last year will make them want to get back out there and show people what they can do. Last year we made it tough on them early, playing the defending champs (Western Washington) on their home floor. We had tough conference road games early. They had to deal with a lot last year. I think right now they are motivated to prove that they belong."

BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
The Golden Bears are not an easy team to define, they feature a number of players that can give opponents different looks on both sides of the ball. Players can play offensively at a certain position and match-up with their opponent at a different spot, which can create match-up problems for the opposition.

"We've always been a motion-type offensive team where we try to create dribble-drive opportunities. We look to use little, subtle mismatches within the offense by using big, strong guards. We seem to do well with guys that have a different skillset than a traditional 2-guard, or traditional small forward might have. We also like our guys to be able to shoot from all positions. Over the years, we've had a lot of success with developing good offensive players."

POINT GUARD
VanPelt runs the point for the Golden Bears and entering his junior year is one of just four returning All-NSIC players in the entire conference. While he was statistically excellent all year, he also was durable; playing 35.7 minutes per game which means depth at the position is not as highly emphasized since he'll remain on the court for most of the night all year.

"He's our spark, he's our main offensive cog and as much as he'll score he'll also create opportunities for his teammates. He really keeps the offense flowing and has already proven that he's more than a scorer, he's a distributor. He can shoot, he can get to the basket and finish and puts himself in position to get easy points at the foul line."

VanPelt picked up in exhibition play where he left off last season, averaging 22.0 points and 6.7 assists in three games, getting to the foul line on average nine times per game.

The program received a boost when junior David Stanley transferred back to the squad. He started his career as a Golden Bear before playing last season at Division III Wisconsin-River Falls where he played in 25 games with eight starts. Now back with the Golden Bears, he'll be sitting out the 2013-14 season due to transfer rules.
"He'd be in the mix if he was on the active roster," said Boe. "He's been in our program before and we're looking forward to working with him in his redshirt year. He's a great athlete, shoots well and is a good on-ball defender."

SHOOTING GUARD
Junior transfer Keith Crockett will likely get the start at the shooting guard position, although he's also likely to see time spelling VanPelt at the point. "He's a versatile, good all-around, solid combo-guard. He has range to the arc, makes good decisions and can get to the basket. But on top of that, we're really looking for him to provide some big plays defensively. We think he'll be an outstanding defender, and really compliments Cole and Terez well. He doesn't demand the ball and is excellent at keeping it moving."

In the exhibition season, Crockett started all three games, averaged 24.7 minutes with 7.7 points and 3.0 assists.

Senior guard Clay Olstad has played well throughout the exhibition season. "He's hitting a lot of tough spot-up shots and defensively is very smart. He's the type of player that will use every ounce of his being to do the right thing. He really has had a good start to practice this fall and we're looking for him to take advantage of any opportunities he gets early."

SMALL FORWARD
The younger Olstad, Cole, "moves well without the ball and we're looking for him to be consistent with his perimeter game," said Boe. "He does so much without the ball; he does a good job on the glass on both ends. Like Terez, we're looking for him to become an all-around player and he's making excellent strides defensively and with his leadership."

In exhibition play, he averaged 13.3 points while snaring 14 rebounds (4.7/game) and nabbing 10 steals (3.1/game).

The versatile junior transfer Travon Mitchell will provide instant offense off the bench at both the shooting guard and small forward positions. "He can athletically make a lot of plays and his outside jumper has been a nice surprise to us, too," Boe commented. "We didn't know how consistent he'd be with it (jumper), but he has been so far. He also gets to the basket and has good vision for what's going on. He's only going to get better with time and makes good energy plays. He gets a board when you need it, and makes a defensive play when you need it."

Adding depth at the wing is Jake Ruhland, a junior transfer. "He's a good athlete and has done everything we've asked of him so far. He's been fitting in nicely with our program."

After football is done, the team will get rejuvenation from Smith, the small forward/power forward athlete. "We like to use him in a lot of four guard lineups and we're looking to get him in here so he can quickly pick up where he left off."

Smith will miss the first two games of the regular season, November 11 against Mayville State and November 16 against Waldorf, but should be ready to contribute by November 23-24 against Northwood and Ferris State in Winona, Minn.

"The transition back to basketball is tough, it's a really different type of conditioning but he's the type of kid that doesn't take days or plays off. He has the personality suited for this type of grind, and he just doesn't stop going. As a staff, we'll have to monitor his rest and try to get him on a plan to get him where we need him as quickly as possible with his conditioning in mind. He's done it (twice) before, and how he developed last year should help him get back even quicker this year. We're not concerned about him getting back to the high level of play he got to last year, that was something he accomplished on his own, we're confident in that, we just want to get him back to basketball game condition physically."

Boe also commented on what Smith brings to the team, "He knocked down a lot of shots and rebounded really well for us last year. His personality really clicks with the team, too. He's great for our team chemistry."

POST PLAYERS
The post position features more versatility, similar to the combo-guards and guard-forwards on the wing. "One thing we feature down low is that we have guys who might play the 4 offensively, and switch to guard the 5 on defense, and vice-versa," said Boe.

Mandli and Yahnke enter their sophomore year ready to make the same types of breakout leaps that VanPelt and Olstad experienced a year ago. "At the end of last year, Shea had some illnesses that kept him from finishing the year. He was making good progress, had a huge game in Mankato early and there were games where he showed flashes of what he'll develop into. But the last month we were limited in how much we could use him, if at all. He's just starting to get back to where he was physically and we look for him to be a versatile defender (inside-out) working on his outside game to go with his inside game offensively.

"Mike played spot minutes last year and you could see flashes with him in short periods of action as well. He has a unique skillset, with game around the basket but he can also extend and shoot from outside which we're trying to utilize more into our offense. As soon as the game slows down for him we'll be able to utilize his skillset even more. He's been great in the offseason in strength and conditioning and we look forward to seeing it on the floor."

In exhibition play, Mandli started all three games, averaging 25.3 minutes with 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds while Yahnke came off the bench with 19.7 minutes, 7.0 points and led the team with four blocked shots. They combined to hit five three-pointers, with three from Yahnke, showing how their game extends to the perimeter.

Senior Chris Halvorsen joins Concordia from the University of Minnesota, where he earned his undergraduate degree as an Academic All-Big Ten student-athlete before deciding to transfer for his senior year in the Twin Cities. "He's been a great addition as far as calmness. He's confident and the experience he brings from practicing at the Division I level is going to be very valuable to the rest of the team. He brings a defensive and athletic presence that really compliments the rest of our team and he's a very high-IQ basketball player."

In the exhibition, Halvorsen started all three games with 25.3 minutes per outing and averaged 6.7 points with 7.0 rebounds and five steals.

Senior Taylor Steinbauer adds a physical inside presence with experience. "He's had a good fall and hopefully he can carry the good things he's done in practice into the games. We are looking for him to slow himself down in game situations, because he can bring a defensive presence to bang with back-to-the basket post players. He has a good skillset as well and hopefully he gains the confidence to bring it into games, because he'll create even more opportunities for himself if he does."