ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (6-5, 2-3 NSIC) starts off the New Year at home with a Friday night game against Minnesota Duluth (6-6, 3-3 NSIC) at 8 p.m. and a Saturday evening game against St. Cloud State (6-5, 3-3 NSIC) at Gangelhoff Center. For a full look at Concordia men's basketball, this week's
game notes are available online.
The three teams aren't separated by much in the NSIC overall standings, as the only difference is Concordia trails each by a win having played one less contest to date. A peak at the overall records has Concordia and SCSU tied at 6-5 and a loss ahead of UMD at 6-6 with SCSU entertaining its final non-conference game this evening against Iowa Wesleyan.
Concordia has been outstanding at home this season with a 5-1 record including last Saturday's 75-73 win over #10 Minnesota State. In six home games, Concordia averages a 22.1 margin of victory by scoring 82.3 points and allowing just 60.2. Concordia shoots 52.2 percent while limiting opposing shooters to 35.8 percent shooting and a 42.2 to 29.0 rebounding advantage.
No one has been better at home than
Nuni Omot, as the redshirt freshman swingman shoot 80.0 percent (36-45) on the GC nets, averaging 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds.
Terez VanPelt has also been excellent at home, averaging 12.0 points but dishing out nearly six assists per game with 34 in six games.
Meanwhile, UMD comes in on Friday with a strong 3-2 road record including a 2-1 mark in road conference games with wins at Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston and a loss at St. Cloud State. But the Bulldogs haven't won at the Gangelhoff Center since 2006 and are on a four game skid in St. Paul and have dropped six of the last seven in the series against Concordia despite holding a 14-10 series lead.
St. Cloud State comes to St. Paul with a 2-2 road record with a 2-1 mark in league play with a split on the BSU/UMC trip where they dropped a road game to UMC (99-85) but rebounded on the road last Saturday to defeat UMD in Duluth (98-74). The Huskies lead the all-time series with Concordia 17-5 and has won the last three in the series overall and the last two trips to Gangelhoff Center.
