ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (13-6, 9-4 NSIC) embarks on its most daunting road trip of the season starting at #7 MSU Moorhead (22-1, 13-1 NSIC) on Friday night before heading to Northern State (17-3, 11-3 NSIC) on Saturday evening.
The Golden Bears have been playing among the best basketball in the Northern Sun as of late, winning eight of nine and five in a row including a three game road winning streak. But the weekend challenge will be against a pair of teams that are just as hot and who have been playing extremely well on their home courts.
Friday night's 8 p.m. tip at Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead, Minn. features a Dragon team that is a perfect 10-0 at home on the year and Concordia is 3-11 all-time at Nemzek Hall. The Dragons are also winners of 10-straight games overall.
On Saturday at 7 p.m. in Abderdeen, S.D., Concordia faces a Wolves team that is 10-1 at Wachs Arena on the year and Concordia has yet to win in 17 trips to the arena. Their only home loss was to MSU Moorhead and they have won seven in a row at home since. Overall, the Wolves have won four in a row and seven of their last eight.
Making the weekend more complicated for all involved is that Concordia features a strong travel partner in #17 Minnesota State. The four teams have combined for a 68-13 overall record and 44-10 in the Northern Sun.
The intriguing aspect of the weekend matchup is that Concordia's strength has been a lock-down defense that has been among the league leaders all season. Concordia leads the league in field goal percentage defense (.392) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.317), ranking 10th in the country in the former. The Golden Bears also hold opponents to 64.3 points, ranking second in the league and 33rd nationally.
They'll face a pair of teams who have no problem scoring, as the Dragons average 83.6 points and the Wolves average 77.7. The Dragons also lead the league in scoring defense, surrenduring just 63.2 points per game. MSUM leads the nation in fewest turnovers (8.0/game) and is seventh in three-point shooting (42.4%).
