ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (1-5, 0-0 NSIC) tips off NSIC play this weekend at Gangelhoff Center with Augustana (5-2, 0-1 NSIC) and Wayne State (4-2, 1-0 NSIC) coming to town. CSP will host Augie at 8 p.m. on Friday and WSC at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT
Last week, CSP dropped their first game of the week on their home court to Presentation 87-73 on Tuesday before falling at Michigan Tech 68-57 on Saturday

The Golden Bears dominated on the glass as they held a 79-59 rebounding edge, including a 33-9 edge on the offensive glass. Concordia knocked down just 38.8% (50-129) from the floor and 33.3% (16-48) from deep while their opponents connected on 50.5% (53-105) and 46.9% (23-49), respectively.

Bryndan Matthews continued to pace the squad as he averaged a team-best 18.0 points and 8.0 boards over the two games while extending his streak nine straight games (including three exhibitions) with at least 15 points to start the year. Avan Ward joined Matthews in double figures as he chipped in 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds on the week. Ahmad Newsome did a little bit of everything for CSP as he put up 9.0 points on 60.0% shooting, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game over the two games.

AUGIE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears meet the Vikings for the 24th time in the all-time series as CSP holds a record of 5-18 in the previous 23 meetings. The Vikings have dominated the series in the recent past with 11 straight wins over Concordia dating back to CSP's 81-77 win on St. Paul on Jan. 3, 2012. In 12 meetings in the all-time series in St. Paul, the Golden Bears have collected a record of 4-8.

LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
In a meeting in St. Paul back on Jan. 7, CSP hung tight throughout the night but were unable to come out on top in an 84-76 loss to Augustana.

The Golden Bears made it tough on the defending national champs all night long as they matched them shot-for-shot nearly the whole game. CSP knocked down 43.9% (25-57) from the floor, including a mark of 44.8% (13-29) after the break. The Vikings, on the other hand, hit 46.8% (29-62) but were held to just 41.9 (13-31) in the second half as Concordia looked to stage a comeback.
 
CSP found most of their success down low with a 26-22 edge in points in the paint, including a 14-8 edge in the final 20 minutes, while they also outscored Augie 27-23 off the bench. While neither team struggled much with turnovers, Augustana was able to capitalize more in that regard with a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers despite a difference of just 11-9 in the turnover category.
 
Concordia shook things up in the starting lineup as they started four freshmen and a sophomore for the first time all year and the unit responded by finishing as a +4 in plus-minus in their time together on the court.

Sam Siganos orchestrated the offense with seven assists and six rebounds while picking up a career-best 14 points as he flirted with a triple-double in the loss. Ted Brown and Max Keefe also added to the offensive output with nine and eight points, respectively as Brown was 4-4 from the floor and Keefe contributed eight boards on the night.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Augustana enters conference play with a 5-2 record after winning their final two contests of non-conference action. The Vikings got an early start to the NSIC season last Monday as they fell on the road at Wayne State 80-75.

Down 70-58 with under three minutes left, the Vikings mounted one final charge to cut the Wayne State lead to 78-75 with 44 seconds left, but the Wildcats made enough free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Jordan Spencer led all players in the game with 23 points, adding a team-high five assists, while John Warren added 17 points to round out the double figure scorers for the Vikings. Schaefer pitched in with eight points.

On the season, Augustana has relied heavily on a balanced starting unit. The same five Vikings started all seven games this season and all five Augie starters average at least 10 points per game. At least three Vikings scored in double figures in every game this season. Leading the way is NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year Jordan Spencer and his 17.1 points per game.

WSC SERIES HISTORY
In the all-time series between Concordia and Wayne State, WSC holds a slight edge as they have claimed 19 wins and CSP has picked up 18 in the 37 meetings. Since a stretch from 2006-2011 that saw Concordia win nine of 10 meetings, the Wildcats have turned the momentum in their favor with nine wins in the last 13. Interestingly, both teams hold nearly the same record on their home court as CSP has gone 12-7 in St. Paul while WSC has gone 12-6 in Wayne in the series.

LAST MEETING VS WSC
Back on Jan. 6, the Golden Bears fell behind early and were unable to recover as they lost to Wayne State by a score of 71-51 at Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia struggled to get off to a fast start as they hit just 28.0% (7-25) from the floor before the break before they finished the night at 40.4% (19-47). WSC was efficient throughout the game with marks of 46.2% or better in each half to finish at 47.2% (25-53). The Wildcats also took advantage of turnovers as they turned 18 CSP turnovers into 21 points while the Golden Bears collected seven points on 10 turnovers for the Wildcats.
 
An area in which the Golden Bears found some success was off the bench as they held a 22-19 edge in bench scoring as four different players registered points.

Bryndan Matthews finished in double figures with 11 points on 4-7 shooting to go along with four boards while Diallo Powell added nine points on 4-8 from the field.
 
Ted Brown was active on the glass with a game-high seven rebounds apiece while Sam Siganos was solid distributing with five assists and just one turnover.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
After rattling off four straight victories, Wayne State enters the weekend following a 79-77 loss to Missouri Southern on Saturday. During their four-game winning streak, the Wildcats grabbed an 80-75 win over Augie in the conference opener.

In that win, Wayne State led for nearly the entire game, then held off a late Augustana comeback to fend off the Vikings. Kendall Jacks paced Wayne State in scoring with 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and 6 for 6 at the charity stripe. Trevin Joseph added 18 points off the bench with Cornelius finishing with 13.

On the year, junior Kendall Jacks leads Wayne State in scoring at 17.5 points per game to rank 10th in the NSIC. He is shooting 54.1 percent from the fi eld (40-74) and tied for sixth in the league in free throw percentage at 90.5 percent (19-21). Junior reserve guard Trevin Joseph also averages double fi gures at 10.8 points a game and is connecting on 50 percent (10-20) of his 3-point shots that is tied for sixth in the NSIC. Wayne State ranks seventh in the NSIC with an average of 80.5 points per game and is fourth in scoring defense allowing 68.7.

NSIC LEADERS
Early in the season, the Golden Bears have had several players rank near the top of the league in different statistical categories.

Bryndan Matthews has been impressive filling up the stat sheet as he has put up top-11 numbers in six different categories. Matthews cleaned up the boards at a solid rate as his 7.8 rebounds per game rank sixth in the league (123rd in the nation) while his 5.7 defensive boards per game ranks sixth (123rd in the nation) as well. The junior has also been the team's go-to scorer as his 18.0 points per game rank ninth while he also ranks third in minutes per game (35.2) and ninth in steals per game (1.3)

In addition, Ted Brown ranks inside the top-10 in a few categories with his 64.9% shooting percentage (fifth) and 2.3 offensive rebounds per game (seventh). Avan Ward also ranks in the top-25 in scoring, rebounding and threes made as well.