ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (3-5, 0-2 NSIC) returns home for their NSIC home opening weekend as they play host to Upper Iowa (5-3, 2-0 NSIC) on Friday and Winona State (3-3, 0-2 NSIC) on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears got off to a tough start in conference play as they dropped games at #21 Augustana and Wayne State last weekend.

Areas that Concordia found some success were in the steals and blocks department. CSP swiped a league-best 8.0 steals per game in their two weekend contests, led by 3.0 per game (six total) from freshman Sam Siganos. The Golden Bears also ranked third in blocks per game as a team with 3.5 as Ted Brown and Diallo Powell each chipped in two.

The offense was spread out for the Golden Bears as nine players averaged between 3.5 and 8.5 points per game on the weekend. Bryndan Matthews continued to lead the team with 8.5 per contest to go along with 4.5 boards per game while Siganos and Ahmad Newsome each contributed 7.5 points per game.
 
Ted Brown continued to connect on a high percentage from the floor as he knocked down 66.7% from the floor to finish with 7.0 points per game as well as 5.0 rebounds per game.

UIU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold a winning record against the Peacocks heading into the weekend as CSP has gone 14-11 in the previous 25 meetings. Upper Iowa, however, has found some more success in the recent history in the series with five wins in the past eight matchups, including the last four in St. Paul. Strangely, there is a bit of a reverse home/road split in the series with CSP going 5-6 on their home court and 9-3 in Fayette,

LAST MEETING VS UIU
After falling in St. Paul in the first meeting last year, the Golden Bears bounced with with an 87-79 win on the road on Feb. 12.

In the win, CSP put the defensive clamps on in the second half as they held UIU to just 32.4% (12-37) from the floor and 27.8% (5-18) from deep after the break. Offensively, it was a consistent shooting performance overall for Concordia in the two halves as the team went 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field and 50.0 percent (7-14) from three in the contest.

While Concordia committed twice as many turnovers (18) as Upper Iowa (9), the Golden Bears compensated by getting to the foul line consistently with 41 attempts compared to UIU's 19 as the aggressive play paid off with a 28-11 scoring margin at the line.

Cole Olstad scored 21 points with eight rebounds in the game and became the fourth player in team history to reach the 1,400 point milestone while Matt Ambriz had a strong performance as well, connecting on four three-pointers (4-7) and scoring 17 points with five assists

ABOUT THE PEACOCKS
The Peacocks enter the weekend riding high with their first four-game winning streak since 2013-14 to improve their record to 5-3 on the young season.
 
Upper Iowa picked up a pair of thrilling two-point wins to open up NSIC play last weekend in Fayette. The Peacocks handed the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs their first loss of the season, 77-75 on Friday night as Jordan Hay hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left. UIU came back with a 78-76 victory over Sioux Fall to start 2-0 in league play for the first time since the 2012-13 season
 
UIU features a veteran lineup with four of their top five scorers (Jimmy Roth, Jordan Hay, Josh Weeber, Luke Lenhart) all in their senior seasons. In the early going, Roth has been the go-to guy with a team-best 14.9 points per game while Hay and Weeber have joined him in double figures with 11.3 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.

WSU SERIES HISTORY
In what has been a very lopsided all-time series with Winona State claiming 42 wins in 47 contests, Concordia has started to even things out more in recent years. The Golden Bears have claimed three wins in the last seven meetings, including two in the last three against the Warriors. In the meeting in St. Paul in the 2014-15 season, Concordia snapped a 17-game losing streak on their home court against WSU to pick up their first home win in the series. Overall, CSP holds a record of 1-18 in St. Paul and 4-21 in Winona.

LAST MEETING VS WSU
Back on February 13th, Concordia took over in the second half for the second night in a row as they completed the weekend sweep with a 67-62 win over Winona State

A huge 17-0 spurt as a part of a bigger 26-5 run in the second half to turn a WSU lead into the decisive advantage for CSP on the night.
 
Concordia hit just 29.2% (7-24) in the first half before firing an efficient 50.0% (13-26) after the break. The Golden Bears also held a strong advantage on the glass as they grabbed 41 rebounds (nine offensive) compared to 32 (six offensive) for the Warriors.

Cole Olstad paced the Golden Bears with 21 points, including 14 in the second half, as he knocked down 6-13 from the floor while picking up seven boards, two blocks and two steals in a hefty 39 minutes of action. Bryndan Matthews added 12 of his 14 points in the second half while Diallo Powell chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench as well.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State got their season off to a strong start in non-conference play with three wins out of four before stumbling out of the block in league play with losses at home to Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.
 
The Warriors were unable to keep pace in a frenetic NSIC opener as the two teams combined for 107 points after the break as Sioux Falls came out on top with a 90-81 win. Scoring proved to be harder to come by the next night as the Winona State was held to 38.9% shooting while the Mustangs pulled away late for a 77-61 win.
 
Throughout the early portions of the year, WSU has relied heavily on their trio of seniors in the starting lineup as Riley Bambenek, Kyle Bauman and Isaiah Gray have combined for 58.4% of the team's scoring. Bambenek leads the way so far with 16.5 points per game while Bauman trails close behind with 16.2.

NSIC LEADERS
Throughout the early portion of the season, the Golden Bears have had several players rank near the top of the league in different statistical categories so far.

Bryndan Matthews has impressive filling up the stat sheet as he has put up top-25 numbers in seven categories so far. Matthews cleaned up the boards at a solid rate as his 7.5 rebounds per game rank fifth in the league (146th in the nation) while his 6.4 defensive boards per game are even better at third (89th in the nation). His 1.3 steals per game also ranks eight in the league.

Sharp-shooter Matt Ambriz has pushed himself all the way into the top-10 in the nation in three-point percentage with a mark of 55.3%, good for third in the league. Ambriz also ranks fifth in the league and 69th in the country with 3.0 threes made per game.

Senior guard Diallo Powell has been a jack-of-all-trades for CSP as he currently ranks in the top-25 in the NSIC in five categories, including ranking seventh with 1.3 steals per game, while Ahmad Newsome registers in at fourth (103rd in NCAA DII) with 4.4 assists per game.

MILESTONE WATCH
Despite featuring a roster that features no players that have played more than two seasons for the Golden Bears, CSP has had several players pile up stats early in their careers.

Matt Ambriz leads the way in that regard as his career 48.1% percentage from beyond the arc represents the highest mark in program history. After putting up the seventh-best single-season mark at 45.8% last season, the sophomore guard has turned it up to a new level this year at 55.3% to turn his career total to 75-156 through 36 games in his career.

Bryndan Matthews has already made a mark in 37 games as his career 30.3 minutes per game are ninth-most at Concordia. During that span, Matthews has compiled 447 points, 53 shy of 500, as he also recently surpassed 200 career rebounds as well.

Senior Diallo Powell, who transferred in before last season, has been solid from the free throw line as his career 75.4% (92-122) ranks 15th at CSP. He has also totalled 378 points, 184 boards and 46 steals in his 36 career games. His 29.6 minutes per game also ranks 12th.