ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (16-10, 12-8 NSIC) will travel to Southwest Minnesota State (12-14, 8-12 NSIC) and Sioux Falls (8-18, 5-15 NSIC) this weekend to close out the 22-game NSIC regular season.

The Golden Bears will play the Mustangs at 8 p.m. on Friday night at R/A Facility in Marshall, Minn. before travelling to Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on the Cougars on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Concordia holds a 1-game lead over Upper Iowa for the South Division third seed in the NSIC Sanford Health Basketball Tournament. The Peacocks will need to gain a game on the Golden Bears in the final two games this weekend, although Upper Iowa holds the first tie-breaker (head-to-head) with Concordia. Upper Iowa will host #2 Augustana (25-1, 19-1 NSIC) on Friday and Wayne State (7-19, 4-16 NSIC) on Saturday.

Although the Golden Bears were not featured in the first NCAA Central Region Rankings released on Wednesday, the team holds a 4-4 record against the top-10 teams in the region, beating four of the six ranked teams its played including 1-0 records against #5 Northern State (away), #9 St. Cloud State (home) and #10 Lindenwood (neutral) while splitting the season series with #4 Minnesota State.

The result likely leaves Concordia on the bubble for a top-10 ranking. The NCAA Central Region Rankings determine the teams selected for the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament, with the automatic qualifiers from the Northern Sun, Mid-America and Great American conferences receiving three of the region's eight bids with the other five selected at-large and based on the final regional rankings.

The Golden Bears have already produced a 16-win season for just the ninth time in program history, a mark that is tied for fifth most in a season since Concordia began sponsoring 4-year college basketball in 1967-68. It's the most overall wins since the 2010-11 team that finished 16-11 overall and 13-9 in the NSIC, leaving the current group one win off that season's finish in league play which was also the last time Concordia hosted an NSIC Tournament first round game.

Concordia will host an NSIC Tournament first round game on Wednesday, February 25 as either the third or fourth seed, pending this weekend's impact on the final bracket. It will be the fourth time in program history the team will host a first round NSIC Tournament contest (2006-07, 2007-08 and 2010-11).