ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Tuesday night at 8 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (6-11, 3-8 NSIC) will host Minnesota State (12-5, 7-4 NSIC) to close out a five game homestand at Gangelhoff Center.

GOLDEN BEARS STREAKING
The Golden Bears are looking to extend their season-long three game winning streak, as well, which currently ranks as the second longest active streak in the NSIC South Division and third longest streak in the NSIC overall. The last team to pick up a conference win after an 0-8 start to league play, Concordia has surged with the streak and is just a half game out of 12th in the league overall and a game and a half out of ninth place. The Golden Bears are also only a game and a half behind the NSIC South Division's fifth team in the standings, Sioux Falls as the team is presented with an opportunity to gain more ground with the only midweek game in the league.

SAME OPPONENTS, DIFFERENT RESULTS
While Concordia swept Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State over the weekend, Minnesota State split with the same teams as the schools serve as travel partners and always play the opposite opponent on Friday and Saturday evening. MSU fell 75-74 in overtime to Bemidji State on Friday at Taylor Center before rebounding with a narrow six point win (78-72) over UMC on Saturday. Concordia topped UMC 76-69 and BSU 72-60 for an average margin of +9.5 compared to MSU's +2.5 against the same teams.

LAST MEETING: MSU 86, CSP 59 (Dec. 19, 2015)
CSP and MSU already faced each other in December with the Mavericks protecting their home court in an 86-59 decision. Three Golden Bears scored in double-figures in the game led by Bryndan Matthews with 14 points including 2-3 three-point shooting and a pair of steals. Cole Olstad and Shea Mandli each scored 13 with Olstad knocking down a pair of three's and grabbing five rebounds while Mandli was 7-9 at the stripe with nine rebounds (six offensive) and a pair of blocked shots. The Mavericks were led by Joey Witthus with 24 points on 8-13 three-point shooting as he didn't attempt a shot inside the arc all night while Snoop Viser scored 20 points while connecting on four three-pointers as MSU buried 17 from behind the arc on the night. Jalen Pendleton had a triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds while shooting 5-7 from the field. MSU had 27 team assists in the game to Concordia's five.

SERIES HISTORY: MSU 18, CSP 6
The December loss pushed the Mavericks to 18-6 in 24 all-time meetings between the programs including four straight wins at Taylor Center. Concordia is 4-7 at home at Gangelhoff Center against MSU, though and won last year's meeting in St. Paul 75-73 and has split the last four contests against MSU played at the GC dating back to the 2011-12 season. MSU has dominated the overall recent series by winning six of the last seven, though.

INSIDE PLAY PICKING UP
The Golden Bears have been a strong rebounding team all season despite entering the year with a four guard starting lineup. As the season has evolved, seniors Shea Mandli and Mike Yahnke have been staples in the starting lineup along side bigger guards Cole Olstad, Bryndan Matthews and Diallo Powell for a balanced rebounding lineup that features all five players averaging at least 5.0 rebounds per game. Concordia ranks fourth in the league in rebounding (38.7), trailing annual NSIC powers Augustana (41.4), MSU Moorhead (40.4) and Minnesota State (39.8). Concordia also ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounding (12.1), trailing a trio averaging 12.9 per game (SCSU, MSU, Augie).

Last weekend, the Bears mauled their opposition on the glass with a +12.5 average margin with 50 rebounds against UMC (50-32) and 41 against Bemidji State (41-34). The +18 margin against UMC was a season-best for the club. In Concordia's six victories on the year, the team has produced a positive rebounding margin each time with a +8.5 average margin. The strong rebounding Golden Bears have only been out-rebounded five times in 17 games this season.

In addition to the rebounding, Concordia has had a free throw advantage in five of its six wins as well, with the lone exception being the Saint John's win in which the Johnnies reached the stripe three more times (23) than Concordia (20) although Concordia made more (13) than SJU (12). In Concordia's six wins, the Golden Bears have been to the stripe 46 more times, making 35 more free throws than the opposition. Opponents have only had more free throw attempts than Concordia four times this year, with two of those occasions coming against the second ranked team in the country, Augustana.

MANDLI'S CAREER NIGHT & CAREER YEAR
On Friday night against Minnesota Crookston, senior post Shea Mandli produced a career-high 28 points as he reached his previous career high of 17 points just under 12 minutes into play en route to a 23-point first half performance in a win over Minnesota Crookston. The Eagan native averaged 20.0 points over the weekend and is averaging career-highs of 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds while seeing 27.1 minutes per game of action. He's converting 52.3 percent from the floor and 70.0 percent from the stripe. Additionally, he's been a solid teammate in the offensive set with a career-high 25 assists in just 17 games, topping last year's high of 22 set over the course of 29 games.

MATTHEWS CONTINUES ROOKIE BREAKOUT SEASON
Freshman Bryndan Matthews has been a spark for Concordia's offense as a freshman as he's reached double-figures in scoring 10 times in 17 games including in nine of the last 11 while scoring eight points in the other two during that stretch and five total eight point games. He ranks third on the team with 10.9 points per game, just two points shy of second place Shea Mandli, and is shooting 46.2 percent on the year from the floor. He also leads the squad on the glass with 5.8 rebounds per game and is coming off his first career double-double on Saturday with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a 72-60 win over Bemidji State. While scoring at least eight points in all but two games this year, Matthews has also been consistent on the glass with 12 games of six or more rebounds. He's held up to the grind of the college schedule beyond his years, clocking 30-plus minutes in six consecutive games.

YAHNKE REBOUNDS INTO FORM
After missing the first five games of the year, senior post Mike Yahnke has returned to form for the Golden Bears. He's coming off double-doubles against Wayne State (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Minnesota Crookston (13 points, 14 rebounds) before adding seven points and seven rebounds most recently against Bemidji State - all Golden Bear wins. After registering a 4.9 scoring average and 3.1 rebound average in his first seven games back from injury, Yahnke has increased to 6.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on the year as he's averaged 9.8 points and 7.6 rebounds over the last five games while playing at least 25 minutes per night in the most recent four contests.

POWELL PROVIDES A POWER GUARD AT THE POINT
Junior transfer Diallo Powell had a breakout game against #2 Augustana with 23 points and nine rebounds and although the Golden Bears dropped the game, they played the Vikings closer than any other NSIC opponent to that point in the season and provided the biggest threat to Augie's 15-game winning streak. Since, Concordia has won three in a row as Powell has shared point gurad responsibilities in the back court. On the year, he averages 10.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and is second on the team with 34 assists and 22 steals. He has nine double-digit scoring games including three of the last four and has at least four rebounds in 13 games.

OLSTAD CONTINUES TO CLIMB THE CHARTS
Senior Cole Olstad continues his ascent up the scoring leaderboard at Concordia as he is eighth place all-time with 1,272. He sits just 23 points behind Kyle Timmer (1,295) for seventh, 64 points behind Wayne Coburn (1,336) for sixth and 68 points behind Michael O'Keefe (1,340) to move into the top-5. Olstad also ranks fourth in steals (157), fifth in three-pointers made (174), sixth in rebounds (520) and free throws made (278), eighth in assists (212) and free throw percentage (.801), 11th in three-point percentage (.384) and blocked shots (57).

His senior year averages of 13.4 points and 5.5 rebounds are right in line with last year's totals of 13.4 points and 5.7 rebounds and ahead of his career averages of 12.1 points and 5.0 rebounds as one of the more consistent all-around producers in team history.

He's leading the NSIC with 1.9 steals per game, swiping 33 in 17 contests including five on Friday night to go with a career-high six assists in the win over Minnesota Crookston. He's had at least five rebounds 14 times and eight in a row and scored in double-figures in 12 of 17 games with three more games of nine points while scoring double-figures in eight of the last nine with nine or more points in all nine of those games. He hasn't left the floor in three of Concordia's last six games including a 45-minute effort in Concordia's overtime loss at Minnesota Duluth.