ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball (3-10, 0-7 NSIC) opens a five game homestand with #2 Augustana (11-1, 8-0 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center followed by a Saturday evening tilt against Wayne State (3-10, 1-7 NSIC) with a 6 p.m. tip.
While the Golden Bears are seeking their first conference victory, the team has faced a conference slate with a combined 31-25 record and will be playing the undefeated Vikings for the second time. After the Augie contest, the Golden Bears square off against three teams with a combined 5-19 record.
LAST TIME OUT AT WAYNE STATEThe Golden Bears made the trip out to Wayne, Neb. and Sioux Falls, S.D. in December to face the Wildcats and Vikings, falling to WSC 84-76 before a 104-66 loss at Augie. The Golden Bears led for a majority of the game at Wayne State in a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes. But WSC used a 14-4 second half run to flip a 43-37 Concordia lead into a 51-47 advantage with 10-plus minutes to play. After Concordia claimed a 64-63 advantage with under five minutes to play, the Wildcats went on an 8-1 spurt to seal the win.
Shea Mandli was strong down the stretch with seven points, four rebounds and two assists in the last 10 minutes of play to finish with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.
OC Omoregie was big off the bench, knocking down four three-pointers for 15 points as the team went 9-13 (.692) from the arc.
Diallo Powell had 12 points and led the team on the glass with nine rebounds, leading to a 39-29 team rebounding advantage. Wayne State was led by Matt Thomas' 27 points wiht three others in double-figures.
LAST TIME OUT AT AUGUSTANAAfter a short drive north to Sioux Falls, the Golden Bears had a different result at Augustana by falling into a 14-0 hole to start the first six minutes. While Concordia wasn't able to tie or claim a lead after the early deficit, the Golden Bears did make a few runs including the next seven points to chop the early double-digit lead in half. Concordia cut it to six, 27-21 with 8:35 to go in the half although the Vikings finished out the half with a 14-5 spurt to take a 17-point lead into the break and kept it in double-digits the rest of the game.
Bryndan Matthews led Concordia with 13 points while playing 27 minutes off the bench. Five other players scored either eight or nine points. Alex Richter led Augie with 22 points on 9-12 shooting as he hit 4-6 from three-point range while Dan Jansen and Casey Schilling scored 17 points each. Jordan Spencer ran the point and although he didn't score on 0-6 shooting, he dropped 11 assists to teammates to just one turnover.
PLAYER NOTES:Senior
Cole Olstad is up to 1,220 career points, moving into 10th on the all-time scoring list and just one point from Justin Vandenberg (2001-05) and 14 shy of Julius Clausen (1968-71) for eighth ... Olstad also ranks fifth in three-pointers made (169) and steals (145), seventh in rebounds (497), eighth in free throws made (259) and percentage (.797), ninth in assists (197) and 11th in three-point percentage (.385) and blocked shots (55) ... Olstad made a career-high six three-pointers while scoring 24 points last Saturday in an overtime loss at UMD ... freshman
Bryndan Matthews continues to surge in his rookie season as he's scored in double-figures seven straight games while scoring 15-plus each of the last three games over winter break ... he's the second leading freshman scorer in the Northern Sun at 12.9 points per game during conference play.
SERIES NOTES:- CSP is 5-15 all-time against Augustana dating back to the 2000-01 season, 2-11 in NSIC play since Augie joined in 2008-09 and has dropped eight straight in the series. Concordia is 4-6 against Augie at home but has lost three straight, last beating the Vikings on Jan. 3, 2012 (81-77) at Gangelhoff Center
- Concordia is 17-17 against WSC all-time starting with the 1999-2000 season and has won two of the last three meetings. Concordia is 11-6 against WSC at home, winning last year's home contest 72-59 on December 5, 2014
