ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (5-23), the eighth seed in the NSIC South, is set for the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament as they travel to #12 Northern State (27-3), the top seed in the NSIC North, on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears fell behind early both on Friday at Sioux Falls and Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State and were unable to erase the deficit in either contest as they were swept in the final regular season weekend.

As has been the case on several occasions this season, three-point shooting and turnovers proved to be the difference as CSP was outscored 60-24 from deep and also committed 22 turnovers while forcing 13. Concordia finished with a similar shooting percentage as their opponents as they connected on 44.1% (49-111) and gave up 45.2% (56-124).

Bryndan Matthews paced the squad offensively as he put up 16.5 points on 48.1% (13-27) from the floor while adding 2.5 boards and 2.5 assists per night. Avan Ward followed close behind with 14.0 points as he connected on 2.0 threes per game to go along with 4.0 rebounds in the two contests. Cody Carlson hit 63.6% (7-11) from the floor for 8.0 points per game while Ahmad Newsome added 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two games.

NSU SERIES HISTORY
CSP enters with a record of 7-28 against the Wolves in the all-time series. The Golden Bears will look to make it three wins in the last six meetings with Northern State after winning the lone regular season meeting in two of the past four seasons. Concordia has struggled in Aberdeen as they have picked up just one win in 19 trips there. That one win was a significant one as CSP stormed back to claim a last-second 66-65 overtime win on Jan. 31, 2015 at Wachs Arena.

LAST MEETING VS NSU
Back on Dec. 30, the Golden Bears fell to then-#13 Northern State by a score of 84-71 at Gangelhoff Center.

The Golden Bears' second half three-point barrage with eight threes on 12 attempts after the break wasn't enough to erase a 48-28 halftime deficit as the Wolves held off a feverish CSP push. Avan Ward played a key role in the comeback attempt as he hit 6-9 from beyond the arc, including 5-6 in the second half, to finish with a game-high 26 points. Ward also chipped in six boards and four assists on the night as he hit 10-18 from the floor.

Both teams utilized the three-ball with Northern State hitting 10-23 (43.5%) from three-point range compared to 9-16 (56.3%) for the Golden Bears. The Wolves created their edge with a strong showing down low as they led 36-20 in points in the paint to bring their overall percentage from the floor at 49.1% (28-57) while CSP hit 41.4% (24-58). Both teams were efficient from the free throw line as well with Concordia hitting 82.4% (14-17) and NSU hitting 81.8% (18-22).
 
Joining Ward in double figures for the Golden Bears were Evan Wesenberg and Cody Carlson as both chipped in 11 points on the night. Wesenberg added nine boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks in a full line while Carlson pulled down six rebounds. Brandon McRoy contributed nine points while Elliot Kane and Ted Brown put up seven points apiece for the short-handed Golden Bears.

ABOUT THE WOLVES
Northern State dominated their competition throughout the regular season as they rolled to an NSIC North title while putting up the best record in the league at 20-2. The Wolves dropped just one other contest in non-conference play as they enter the postseason ranked second in the region ranking with an overall record of 27-3. After starting off with 12 wins to open the NSIC slate, they finished in a similar fashion by winning their final six contests heading into the NSIC Tournament.

NSU has been impressive both offensively and defensively as they held opponents to 66.7 points per game in league play, best in the league, while also ranking second in scoring with 81.3 points per game. In addition the best field goal percentage defense (42.4%) and second-best offense (50.9%), they also crushed their opponents on the glass with an NSIC-best +9.3 rebound margin. That mark was more than double anyone else's in the league as Augustana sat in second at +4.0.

It's been a complete team effort for the Wolves as five different players have averaged double figures for the squad, inlcuding four at 12.0+ or above. Leading the way is DJ Pollard with 12.8 points per game while Logan Doyle follows close behind with 12.2 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds. Ian Smith chips in 12.1 per game while Darin Peterka has put up 12.0 and Carter Evans has put up 10.2.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears carry a 4-14 all-time record in the conference tournament including a 4-10 mark in opening round competition. Concordia is also 2-10 in tournament road games, with their two wins coming in the 2004-05 season at Wayne State (93-84) and last season at MSU Moorhead (86-78). The Golden Bears have yet to capture multiple wins in a conference tournament.

LAST YEAR IN THE TOURNAMENT
Last season, the Golden Bears opened up the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament with a stunning 86-78 victory at top-seeded MSU Moorhead in the first round to earn a trip to Sanford Pentagon in the quarterfinals.

In the win over the Dragons, 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.

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.

In the trip to the Pentagon, Concordia saw Minnesota State pull away in the second half to put an end to their improbably tourney run in a 73-51 loss.

It was a tale of two halves as CSP locked down the Mavericks in the first half before MSU broke out in a big way after the break. The Golden Bears held Minnesota State to just 32.4% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but they knocked down 61.5% in the second half to finish the game at 45.0% (27-60).

NSIC LEADERS
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Golden Bears 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-15 numbers in six different categories. Matthews cleaned up the boards at a solid rate as his 7.1 rebounds per game rank eighth in the league (170th in the nation) while his 2.5 offensive boards per game rank third (136th in the nation) as well. The junior has also been the team's go-to scorer as his 17.1 points per game rank seventh while he also ranks third in minutes per game (35.4).

In addition, Ted Brown ranks inside the top-15 with his 60.5% shooting percentage (seventh) while Avan Ward registers in at fifth in threes made per game with 2.5 and Evan Wesenberg ranks 12th with 0.8 blocks per game.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
Junior Bryndan Matthews has been a major contributor throughout his three seasons on campus and has started to climb the career ranks at Concordia. The Eagan native is up to ninth in scoring (1,254), tied for fourth in rebounds (573), fourth in rebounds per game (6.7), seventh in free throws made (282) and seventh in field goals made (459) in his career at CSP.