ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul (2-5, 0-2 NSIC) will host its first Northern Sun league games this weekend against Winona State (3-4, 2-1 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m. and Upper Iowa (5-6, 1-2 NSIC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center.

TOYS FOR TOTS & DAY OF HEROES
Concordia athletics and the General John W. Vessey, Jr. Veterans Resource Center are teaming up to collect Toys for Tots donations at this weekend's basketball games. The first 100 fans to bring a toy donation each day will receive a free Jimmy John's sandwich voucher redeemable at the local Jimmy John's on Snelling Ave. near campus.

Saturday's game will also be Day of Heroes, the award-winning athletics event that will be at a basketball game for the first time this year after being an annual football event. At halftime, Concordia and the Vessey Veterans Resource Center will award an ROTC scholarship to Cadet Malcuit and honor the Disney Sports Spirit Award winner Hank Goff.

Additional plans are being finalized with local authorities which could include vehicles to display in and/or outside of the arena.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
This weekend's games will be available to watch online with play-by-play by JW Cox. The games will be produced by Stream Powered Productions through the Northern Sun's agreement with Stretch Internet. Live stats will accompany the broadcast, along with a standalone live stats option.

SERIES HISTORY: WINONA STATE 41, CONCORDIA 4
While the Golden Bears trail significantly in the all-time series, the team has picked up the pace in recent years with all four wins coming since the 2008-09 season. Concordia also won the most recent meeting, a 74-63 triumph on Valentine's Day in 2015 at Gangelhoff Center for the first-ever home win over the Warriors in the 18th meeting in St. Paul. The programs squared off 11 times prior to Concordia joining the Northern Sun between 1986-87 and 1998-99 with WSU winning all 11 of those contests and had won the first 31 games of the all-time series.

LAST YEAR: GOLDEN BEARS & WARRIORS DEFEND HOME COURTS
In the first meeting in December in Winona, the Warriors ambushed Concordia by setting a season-high of 15 three-pointers as Concordia allowed a season-high of 75 points in a 75-56 loss at McCown Gym.

Concordia entered the game leading the league in scoring defense (59.0), second in the country in field goal percentage defense (35.0%) and league-leading and 21st in the nation three-point defense (28.0%). Concordia hadn't allowed an opponent to hit double-digit three-pointers in a game in the first eight games while WSU hadn't made double-digit three's, averaging seven made per game. The Warriors were also coming off a season-low 27.0 percent (17-63) shooting effort in a 22-point loss at Sioux Falls including a 27.3 percent (6-22) three-point shooting effort.

But WSU shot 48.3 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent from three-point territory on its home court while Concordia was limited to 35.7 percent shooting and 20.0 percent three-point shooting. Cole Olstad led Concordia with 16 points and Terez VanPelt added 11. Mike Yahnke added muscle on the inside with eight points on 4-6 shooting with nine rebounds.

Isaiah Gray led the Warriors with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Corey Jeffs buried four three-pointers for 12 points off the bench. Five different WSU players made at least two three-pointers in a balanced effort.

In the rematch in St. Paul, the Golden Bears clinched a home NSIC Tournament first round game as Cole Olstad became the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point club while Terez VanPelt became the second player in team history to achieve the 1,500 point milestone. Olstad had 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals while VanPelt had nine points on just three shots along with six rebounds. Nuni Omot also scored 18 points while Keith Crockett added 14 points and nine assists with just one turnover. Shea Mandli added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Concordia held Winona State to 21.1 percent (4-19) shooting from the arc the second time around and held a 38-31 edge on the glass. Isaiah Gray led WSU with 15 points again as five Warriors scored at least nine points.

SERIES HISTORY: CONCORDIA 13, UPPER IOWA 10
The Golden Bears lead the all-time series 13-10 heading into the 24th meeting with a 5-5 record in St. Paul and a 5-4 record at Gangelhoff Center. Upper Iowa did sweep last year's games although the Golden Bears have won six of the last 10 overall. The Peacocks are on a roll at Gangelhoff Center with three straight wins with Concordia's last home win over the Peacocks on February 3, 2012.

LAST YEAR: PEACOCKS SWEEP GOLDEN BEARS
In Concordia's trip to Fayette in December, the Golden Bears were looking to rebound from the Winona State loss the previous night when the Warriors buried 15 three-pointers. Upper Iowa responded with a similar offensive attack at Dorman Gym, hitting 12 three-pointers at a 41.4 percent clip to bury Concordia. The Golden Bears countered with 33.3 percent (5-15) three-point shooting although the visiting Concordia team shot better from the floor (45.2%) than the host Peacocks (44.1%).

Cole Olstad led Concordia with 16 points followed by Keith Crockett's 15 and Nuni Omot was a basket shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. Grant Lang led UIU with 18 points on 5-6 shooting and 4-5 three-point shooting along with five assists. Bo Pagel and Jordan Hay added 14 apiece for the Peacocks.

Upper Iowa started hot from the arc and ended hot from the arc, hitting five of their first six three's to mount a 23-8 lead midway through the first half. Jon Sobaski scored all eight of his points in a six minute stretch as Concordia went on a 16-3 run to shrink UIU's lead to three, 31-28. The momentum carried into the second half as Concordia went on a 12-2 spurt to take a 42-37 lead out of the gates and still held a 54-51 lead after the midway point of the second half.

The Peacocks finished strong, going on a 20-7 run to break a 59-59 tie with 7:21 left in the game and Concordia would only get it back to a nine point margin the rest of the night.

In the rematch at Gangelhoff Center, the Golden Bears tried to climb out of a 14-point deficit with six and a half minutes to play, cutting the UIU lead to just one point with 25 seconds to play using a 17-4 run covering six minutes. Terez VanPelt's mid court buzzer beater fell short as UIU held on for the road win. The loss put Concordia in a stretch of three losses in four games after winning nine of the previous 11.

Keith Crockett led Concordia with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals while Cole Olstad poured in 21 points, nine rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocks. Nuni Omot gave Concordia a third player with 20 points, adding five rebounds and three steals and VanPelt scored 13 points. But the four players accounted for all but eight of the team's points as the rest of the team shot 2-11 from the field.

Upper Iowa repeated the 12 three-pointers that they made in the December meeting at Dorman Gym by shooting 12-30 on the Gangelhoff Center nets from the arc. Jernell Hughes scored 17 points including 5-8 three-point shooting off the bench and Bo Pagel repeated his 14-point effort from the previous meeting. Seven players scored at least eight points as UIU's bench outscored Concordia's 46-8.

OLSTAD LEADING THE WAY
Senior Cole Olstad is one of the more prolific scorers in program history as the reigning All-NSIC Second Team performer ranks 12th in program history with 1,138 points including a career 38.3 percent rate from behind the arc (156-407) and 80.3 percent career free throw mark (244-304). As a senior, Olstad's 13.3 scoring average ranks 19th in the Northern Sun and is right in line with his 13.4 average from a year ago when he earned all-conference honors. He's also averaging 5.4 rebounds (22nd NSIC), 2.9 assists (22nd NSIC), 1.6 steals (4th NSIC) and 0.9 blocks (10th NSIC) as one of the better all-around players in the league. Additionally, Olstad is 11th in the league in free throw percentage (82.8%) and 19th in three-pointers made (1.9/game).

He's scored in double-figures four times in seven games and has scored at least nine points six times. He's had a pair of 20-plus point performances, going for 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the opener against East Central and 20 points with seven rebounds and three assists in the home opener against St. Olaf.

POWELL HEATING UP
Junior transfer guard Diallo Powell has also been a steady presence in multiple statistical categories for the Golden Bears, ranking 32nd in the NSIC in scoring (11.6), 13th in rebounding with a team-high 6.3 per game, 39th in assists (1.9), 28th in steals (1.0) and 33rd in blocks (0.4) while his 80.0 percent free throw shooting ranks 13th.

Like Olstad, Powell has reached double-figures four times and has one 20-point outburst with 24 points, eight rebounds and three steals against Peru State. He's scored at least six every game and had at least four rebounds each game. He leads the team in free throws made (28) and attempts (35).

MANDLI CONTINUES TO SHINE
Senior Shea Mandli is having a career year, averaging career-highs in scoring (9.6) and rebounding (5.3 - 25th NSIC) while starting all seven games and producing a 55.1 field goal percentage in 25.9 minutes per game. His previous career-high was 7.0 points as a junior, 4.0 rebounds and 20.1 minutes as a freshman and he's nearing his torrid shooting pace of 57.4 percent last year as a junior.

This year, he's matched his career-high in scoring with 17 points at Wayne State and set a new career-high with 13 rebounds in the win at Bemidji State when he registered his second career double-double with 13 points to start a stretch of three-straight game in double-figures for scoring. He's scored at least six points every game this season.

SOBASKI PACES THE OFFENSE
Sophomore point guard Jon Sobaski has led the team's offense from the point this season, featuring an 18-6 assist-turnover ratio which would be ninth in the league but his 2.6 assists per game are just shy of the 3.0 assists required to qualify. His top performance was a 9-point, 6-assist, 0-turnover outing in a road win at Bemidji State, also turning in a 7-point, 4-assist, 0-turnover affair in the season opener at East Central.

FIFTH STARTING SPOT ROTATING
While the above four players have started all but one game (Sobaski has started six of seven), the fifth starting spot has rotated between three players as freshman Bryndan Matthews has four starts with Matt Ambriz and Josh Monroy each starting a pair. Monroy drew the starts last weekend at Wayne State and Augustana.

MATTHEWS MAKES AN EARLY IMPACT
Freshman Bryndan Matthews has been a strong freshman presence for Concordia with four starts in seven games while playing at least 20 minutes in each of the last six contests. He's the second leading rebounder on the club with 6.0 per game which ranks 16th in the Northern Sun and he's been a steady scoring presence with 8.0 points per game including a pair of double-digit contests. He's coming off his top scoring game of the year with 13 points in 27 minutes off the bench at #3 Augustana on Saturday, adding four rebounds. The four rebounds he grabbed were a season-low as he had recorded at least six rebounds in each of the first six games of the year.

YAHNKE RETURNS TO THE LINEUP
Senior post Mike Yahnke was a welcome presence inside last weekend for the Golden Bears, averaging 21.0 minutes off the bench in the two games at Wayne State and #3 Augustana. Yahnke missed the first five games of the year with an injury but averaged 5.0 points on 45.5 percent (5-11) shooting in his first two games back, adding 3.0 assists per game with a 6-1 assist-turnover ratio.

Yahnke brings additional experience and muscle to the post, having played in 78 games with 50 starts. He averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds as a sophomore and 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds as a junior and is a career 47.1 percent (204-433) shooter from the floor.

MONROY BRINGS THE SIZE
Junior center Josh Monroy poses matchup problems with his 7-foot, 2-inch size inside. So far in 2015-16, he's averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds on 50.0 percent (9-18) shooting while working his way back into the rotation. Last year in his first year in the program as a sophomore transfer, Monroy started 23 games while playing 27 with a 4.4 scoring average and 3.4 rebounds per game including a solid 61.4 percent (51-83) field goal percentage with 20 blocked shots.

FRESHMEN SPARK THE BENCH
While Matthews has been in and out of the starting lineup, four other freshmen have been making an impact off the bench in varied roles as well. OC Omoregie brings a dynamic athleticism while leading the group with 15.7 minutes and 6.0 points per game, adding 12 assists and 6-9 three-point shooting. Redshirt freshman Matt Ambriz stretches the floor with his range and quick release, knocking down 6-14 from the arc, 10-20 from the field and 5-6 at the line while averaging 13.4 minutes including a pair of starts. Steven Kragt brings length and size inside, averaging 8.1 minutes, 3.3 points and 1.6 rebounds and Brandon McRoy brings strength while averaging 6.7 minutes, 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds.

As a group, the four players combine to average 44 minutes, 16 points, 6.7 rebounds, 45.9 percent (34-74) shooting and 52.1 percent (12-23) three-point shooting.

TEAM DEFENSIVE STRENGTH
The Golden Bears built a reputation in 2014-15 as a strong team defensive program under head coach Joey James and are continuing that trend in 2015-16 despite a roster that features five freshmen in the rotation. Concordia is holding opponents to 43.4 percent shooting which ranks sixth in the conference and 36.0 percent three-point shooting  which ranks eighth. Additionally, opponents have reached the foul line 156 times against Concordia which ranks as the fifth fewest in the league and the Golden Bears are out-rebounding opponents by 5.0 per game which is the sixth best margin in the conference. Concordia's defensive rebounding ranks third (28.6), offensive rebounding ranks sixth (11.6) and total rebounding ranks third (40.1) despite playing a small-ball, four-guard lineup consistently.