ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (6-14, 3-1 NSIC) closes out January hosting #3 MSU Moorhead (21-2, 13-1 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m. and Northern State (12-8, 8-6 NSIC) on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The home weekend concludes a busy month of basketball at Gangelhoff Center as the Golden Bears will have played seven games at home during the month, contrast that with closing out the season in February with just two home games on the season's final weekend (February 19-20). Concordia is 3-2 at home during the month of January. The busy home weekend also includes a pair of alumni events.

GOLDEN BEAR BASH
Join Concordia-St. Paul's office of alumni relations and the athletics department this Friday night for the Golden Bear Bash at Gangelhoff Center during the women's (6 p.m.) and men's (8 p.m.) doubleheader against MSU Moorhead. Game tickets and admission to the event are free for alumni and their families. Walk-ins are welcome, but pre-registration is preferred and can be done online! Spend time with former classmates as the men will attempt to upset the #2 MSU Moorhead men at 8 p.m.!

The Golden Bear Bash event will be hosted in the Sandberg Room and Hall of Fame Room on the second floor of Gangelhoff Center, with doors to the alumni event opening at 6:30 p.m. (approximately women's halftime) and ending at 9 p.m. in the second half of the men's game. The event features free apps and drinks, along with a Comet Kid Zone with a movie, coloring and games - the entire family is welcome!

BOWLING FOR BEARS
Concordia-St. Paul's signature winter fundraising event is back this year as Bowling for Bears 2016 will be held at Midway Pro Bowl on January 30th at 8:30 p.m. immediately following the game against Northern State with a cost of just $25 per person. One of Concordia's most popular fundraising events, Bowling for Bears is held in a laid back atmosphere at Midway Pro Bowl at Midway Shopping Center near campus on University Ave. The event features four person teams using the team average from three games of bowling. This marks the second consecutive year that the event will be held at the spacious Midway Pro Bowl, which is just blocks away from campus. Winners, based on the average score of a four person team will each receive a trophy (featured in the image above). Last year's winning team included head baseball coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie.

SERIES HISTORY: CONCORDIA VS MSU MOORHEAD
The Golden Bears are 10-18 against the Dragons including a four game losing streak with the last three meetings all at Moorhead ... Concordia is 7-6 at home against MSUM, last beating MSUM at Gangelhoff Center January 20, 2012.

SERIES HISTORY: CONCORDIA VS NORTHERN STATE
Concordia is 6-26 against the Wolves in the all-time series, defeating NSU last year in Aberdeen (66-65) in overtime in the program's first-ever win at Wachs Arena in 18 trips. Concordia then fell to NSU in the NSIC Sanford Health Quarterfinals at Sanford Center (68-57) to split the season's two meetings. Concordia is 5-8 at home against NSU with two straight losses at Gangelhoff, last beating the Wolves at home February 19, 2011 (81-66).

LAST MEETING VS MSUM: DRAGONS 94, BEARS 82
The Golden Bears trimmed a 21-point late first half deficit down to just three (66-63) with under eight minutes to play but the Golden Bears never had a possession with a chance to tie or reclaim the lead as the Dragons went on a 10-0 run to reclaim control at Nemzek Hall in Moorhead last January.

Terez VanPelt cashed a three-pointer at the end of the first half and Keith Crockett drained one to start the second half to start an extended stretch of play in which Concordia outscored seventh-ranked MSUM 34-16 to get back into the game in a 12-plus minute period of action.

Concordia shot 64.5 percent (20-31) in the second half and scored 50 points on the road against one of the top teams in Division II but the host Dragons were led by the hot shooting of senior guard Jordan Riewer who had 28 first half points, finishing with 37 for the night including nine three-pointers. Isaac Sevlie added 23 points and 10 rebounds for MSUM.

Concordia had five players in double-figures led by Jon Sobaski and Cole Olstad with 14 each while VanPelt had 10 points and six assists. Concorida's bench outscored MSUM's 37-7 in the contest, as well.

LAST MEETING VS NSU: WOLVES 68, CONCORDIA 57
In the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals, South Division third seed Concordia wasn't able to protect an 8-point lead late in the first half against North Division second seed Northern State. The Wolves shot 33.3 percent (10-30) against Concordia's strong defense, but turned it around in the second half by shooting 61.9 percent (13-21). Concordia shot itself in the foot in the contest, shooting 50.0 percent (13-26) at the free throw line while committing 18 turnovers.

Concordia's late first half lead of eight points evaporated as NSU's defense shut the Golden Bears down to just six points over a stretch of play that spanned nearly 12 and a half minutes as part of a 27-6 run that gave NSU a 13-point lead with just over eight minutes to play. The loss ended Concordia's season at 19-11 overall, an 11-win turnaround which was a program record and best in the NSIC in the 2014-15 season. The Golden Bears also set a program record with 14 Northern Sun victories and were ranked ninth in the last published NCAA Central Region Rankings.

Shea Mandli led the team off the bench with 12 points and six rebounds while Cole Olstad added 11 points and six rebounds with Terez VanPelt contributing 10 points, five assists and four rebounds. Seth Bachand led NSU with 17 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

CHASING HISTORY: COLE OLSTAD NOTES
Senior guard Cole Olstad continues to climb the ladder in several career statistical categories as one of the program's top all-around players in school history. Olstad ranks seventh on Concordia's all-time scoring list with 1,330 points, just six shy of Wayne Coburn (1967-70), 10 shy of Michael O'Keefe (1989-93) and 41 away from Brian Jamros (2001-05) to move into fourth. Additionally, Olstad ranks fourth in steals (164), fifth in three-pointers made (179), sixth in free throws made (293) and rebounds (534), seventh in free throw percentage (.805), eighth in assists (219) and 11th in three-point percentage (.384) and blocked shots (57).