ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (0-2) is set for their home opener this week as North Central (1-4) comes to town for a Thursday matchup at 6 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
In the season's opening weekend, the Golden Bears dropped a pair of contests in the Parkside Invitational presented by HARIBO. Concordia opened up with a heartbreaking 78-76 loss to Minnesota Crookston on Friday before falling to Hillsdale 65-49 on Saturday.
Concordia featured a balanced attack with eight different players registering at least 17.0 minutes per night and three averaging double figures in scoring.
Cody Carlson paced the squad with 14.5 points per game and 6.0 boards per game while knocking down 57.9% of his shots.
Jordan Coblin has added 10.5 points per game and
Noah Kannegiesser has chipped in 10.0 points per game as well.
The Golden Bear defense held their opponents to just 41.2% from the floor and 25.5% from beyond the arc over the two games.
NORTH CENTRAL SERIES HISTORY
Prior to the Golden Bears joining the NSIC, Concordia and North Central were familiar foes in the UMAC. CSP and NCU have met 63 times in the all-time series with Concordia holding a significant 50-13 edge heading into Thursday's contest. Since 1994, the Golden Bears have won the last 15 meetings, including 12 wins by double figures. CSP has found quite a bit of success on their home court as they have gone 20-4 at home against the Rams.
LAST MEETING WITH THE RAMS
Back on Nov. 14, 2017, CSP picked up their first win of the season in their home opener against North Central by a score of 85-51 at Gangelhoff Center.
Concordia controlled the game on both ends of the court by knocking down 52.4% (33-63) of their looks while holding North Central to just 27.4% (17-62) from the field. CSP's field goal percentage allowed was the lowest since the Golden Bears held Northland College to 21.2% (14-66) back on Nov. 22, 2014 in St. Paul.
CSP also held a decisive edge down low by grabbing a 49-30 advantage on the glass (13-10 on the offensive glass) as well as a dominant 44-12 advantage in points in the paint. The Golden Bears also finished on top with a 14-3 edge in fast break points to go along with a 27-13 edge in bench scoring to aid the effort.
Bryndan Matthews picked up where he left off on the weekend with a team-best 18 points on a solid 8-10 shooting while also leading all players with eight boards. The junior also chipped in four assists and a pair of steals on the night.
