ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (6-24), the eighth seed in the NSIC South, is set to travel to Sanford Pentagon to take on Minnesota State (20-9), the fourth seed in the NSIC South, in the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Sunday at noon.

LAST TIME OUT
On Wednesday night, the Golden Bears pulled off the dramatic upset with an 86-78 comeback victory over top-seeded #19 MSU Moorhead.

Concordia's defense came through in a big way as they held the league-leading offense to over 11 points below their season average of 89.4. CSP also held the Dragons to 43.1% (25-58) from the floor and 24.0% (6-25) from deep, well below their marks of 51.4% from the floor and 41.2% from three on the season.

The offense was nearly as impressive as they knocked down 47.5% (29-61) of their shots to go along with 38.9% (7-18) from beyond the arc, both above their season averages. In addition, the bench play was heavily skewed in favor of the Golden Bears as over half of their points on the night (46) came from their three bench players while MSU Moorhead scored 26 with their non-starters.

Both of CSP's leading scorers came from outside the starting five as Diallo Powell led all scorers with 23 points while Brandon McRoy contributed a career-high 19 points in the win. Powell hit a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line while Brandon McRoy hit 7-13 from the floor and chipped in five boards.

MSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears are set to meet the Mavericks for the 28th time in series history on Sunday. In the previous 27 meetings, CSP has gone 6-21 against MSU. The series has been tipped in favor of the Mavericks over the past few years as MSU has won nine of the last ten meetings dating back to the 2012-13 season. Sunday's contest marks the first postseason meeting between the two schools.

LAST MEETING VS MSU
Back on Jan 10, CSP fell to Minnesota State by a score of 76-56 in Mankato.

Concordia was limited to just 35.7% (20-56) from the floor and 29.4% (5-17) from three while the Mavericks finished the game with an efficient mark of 51.7% (31-60) from the floor. CSP did manage to knock down 11 of their 12 free throw attempts to finish with a 91.7% from the stripe.
 
Minnesota did most of their damage in the low post as they held a strong 38-22 edge in points in the paint in the win. They also held edges of 15-8 in assists and 16-10 in turnovers forced on the night as well.
 
Three players for CSP finished in double figures scoring as Bryndan Matthews led the way off the bench while Sam Siganos and Max Keefe also reached the mark.
 
Matthews put up 13 points on 5-12 shooting while knocking down all three of his free throw attempts as he also added six boards in a team-leading 33 minutes of action. Siganos followed with 12 points and four rebounds while Keefe scored 10.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State owns a 20-9 overall record and has won seven of its last nine games, including an 87-78 win against the University of Mary in its recent outing.

As a team, Minnesota State is averaging 78.3 points and 35.2 rebounds per game this season, while shooting 47.2% from the field. MSU has also tallied 110 blocks and has passed out 375 assists.

Senior Jon Fuqua is averaging a team-leading 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game this season, with Joey Witthus following right behind with 14.0 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. Senior Aarias Austin is adding 11.6 points and 3.0 assists per game as well.

Matt Margenthaler is in his 16th season as head coach of the Mavericks and currently owns a 350-142 (.711) overall record, to go along with 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter the weekend sitting at 4-13 all-time record in the conference tournament including a 2-8 mark in the quarterfinals. CSP's last win in the quarterfinals came back in 2007 as they knocked off Wayne State 77-61 in what was then the first round. Concordia's most recent trip to the quarterfinals came in a 68-58 loss to Northern State following a first round win over U-Mary in 2015. The Golden Bears have yet to capture multiple wins in a conference tournament.

LAST YEAR IN THE TOURNAMENT
Last season, Concordia had its late season surge come to a close in the NSIC Sanford Health Tournament first round as the Golden Bears fell 76-72 to the University of Mary.
 
Shea Mandli led Concordia with 17 points in his final contest, making 5-9 from the floor and converting all seven free throw attempts. He also dished out four assists in a strong season in which he led the team in rebounding and was second on the team in assists and scoring.

Matt Ambriz made four three-pointers to finish with 16 points with four assists and just one turnover in 37 minutes while seniors Cole Olstad and Mike Yahnke added 12 and eight points, respectively with Olstad securing six rebounds to Yahnke's four. Each distributed three assists.

Senior Cole Olstad missed a contested game-tying three-pointer on the left wing with six seconds left, but the ball was deflected out by U-Mary giving Concordia another shot. Off the inbounds pass, the Marauders quickly fouled with 2.9 seconds to go, putting Concordia in the tough spot of needing a missed second free throw and offensive rebound to get a quick possession. After both free throws were off the mark, the Marauders rebounded and made one of two to seal the win.

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

Bryndan Matthews has been impressive filling up the stat sheet as he has put up top-25 numbers in seven different categories. Matthews cleaned up the boards at a solid rate as his 7.5 rebounds per game rank fifth in the league (143rd in the nation) while his 5.6 defensive boards per game rank fourth (115th in the nation). His 1.5 steals per game also ranks fifth in the league.

In addition, Diallo Powell ranks 15th in steals per game (1.1)  while Sam Siganos ranks 11th in assists per game (3.6) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). Ted Brown also ranks 13th in shooting percentage (54.6%) and 19th blocks per game (0.6).

YOUNG GUNS
The Golden Bears feature a young roster this season with just two upperclassmen (both transfers) while the rest of the squad is in their freshman or sophomore campaigns. Over much of the second half of the year, Concordia has went especially young in the starting lineup with four freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup.

Freshman Sam Siganos has gotten things going in the conference season with at least four assists in 14 games while scoring in double figures in nine. Siganos has started the past 19 contests as his season line has moved to 7.2 points and 3.6 assists in 30 games.

Fellow freshman Ted Brown has been a regular in the lineup since the start of the year with 26 starts in his 29 appearances so far. The West Des Moines native ranks fourth on the team with 8.7 points and second with 4.8 rebounds while leading the way with 0.6 blocks per game and a 55.2% shooting percentage.

Max Keefe has developed into a consistent threat for the Golden Bears in his first year on campus as he has scored in double figures in 12 games this season. Overall, the Wisconsin native is averaging 7.8 points and 3.2 rebounds on the year.

Freshman Carter Brooks has also come on strong in the final few weeks of the year with five or more points in five of the final eight games, including a career-high 10 points against Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.