ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (3-7, 1-5 NSIC) returns to action in 2020 with NSIC home contests against UMary (7-5, 2-4 NSIC) on Friday and Minot State (6-6, 0-6 NSIC) on Saturday at Gangelhoff Center.

LAST TIME OUT
Back on Dec. 21, the Golden Bears were unable to keep pace with Minnesota State as they fell 85-68 at Taylor Center.

Concordia held the edge down low in the contest as they had a 34-32 advantage in points in the paint, a 10-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 12-8 advantage in second chance points, but they were unable to capitalize on that as efficiency proved to be the determining factor in the game.
 
The Mavericks connected at a high clip in the game as they hit 50.8% (30-59) from the floor, 46.4% (13-28) from three-point range and 80.0% (12-15) from the free throw line while CSP finished at 44.3% (27-61), 29.2% (7-24) and 58.3% (7-12), respectively.
 
One game after stepping into the starting lineup, Lee Higgins delivered his best performance of the season with 14 points on 5-11 shooting to go along with 11 boards and five assists for his first double-double of the year. He was matched by Cody Carlson on the offensive end as Carlson added 14 points of his own on 6-11 from the floor to go along with four boards.

UMARY SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears take a 14-8 record against the Marauders into this weekend's matchup between the two schools. While Concordia has put up a solid 6-4 record on their home court against U-Mary, they have been even better in Bismarck with eight wins in 10 trips there. CSP has been especially successful in the recent history of the series with the Golden Bears claiming wins in eight of the last 10 meetings, including the last two in a row.

LAST MEETING VS UMARY
In their first game after the New Year in 2019, CSP grabbed their first conference win of the season as they held off University of Mary to claim a 66-61 win.

The Golden Bears took a double-digit lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Marauders came storming back to take the lead several times in the final few minutes. Concordia managed to slow down UMary when it mattered most as Isaiah McKay hit a big three with just under two minutes to go to give CSP the lead for good.
 
It was fitting that McKay's three proved to be the decider as the senior guard paced all players with 23 points on the night while knocking down 8-12 from the floor, 4-7 from three and grabbing six rebounds. McKay was at his best in the second half as he scored 16 of his 27 points after the break.
 
Concordia's defense also played a major role in the victory as the team held UMary to just 38.2% (21-55) from the floor and 27.6% (8-29) from beyond the arc. The Marauders also did not help their own cause as they hit just 52.4% (11-21) from the free throw line. CSP, on the other end, knocked down 48.0% (24-50) of their shots and 80.0% (12-15) of their free throw while also winning the rebounding battle 35-30 and the points in the pain battle 22-16.
 
McKay wasn't the only Golden Bear to put up a big night as Cody Carlson shattered his career high with 19 points in the win. The sophomore connected on 7-12 shooting and 2-4 from three while also pulling down three boards in his 22 minutes of work. Bryndan Matthews also reached double figures with 12 points on 5-7 shooting while also chipping in a team-best seven rebounds and four assists in a full 40 minutes.

ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
After a red-hot start with five wins in their first six games of the season, the Marauders cooled off with four straight losses early in the conference season. UMary rebounded prior to the break with back-to-back wins to improve to 7-5 overall and 3-4 in league play heading to 2020.

In the final game before the break, UMary picked up a crucial overtime victory against in-state rival Minot State by a score of 75-73. The Marauders saw a second half lead disappear, but they were able to bounce back to force overtime with a late three before picking up the win the extra session. Matthew Kreklow paced the squad with 25 points and 10 boards in the win.

Kreklow has been the top producer all year long for UMary as the big man has registered a team-best 15.5 points and 8.9 boards, tallying four striaght double-doubles. Jaylan White has joined him in double figures with 12.4 points per game while also leading the team with 3.7 assists per game.

MINOT SERIES HISTORY
Concordia's all-time series history with Minot State features just seven previous meetings as the Beavers have won six of those seven contests. CSP's lone win against Minot State came in St. Paul back in 2014 as the Golden Bears have gone 1-2 on their home court and 0-4 on the road in the series. MiSU has won each of the past five contests since that CSP win.

LAST MEETING VS MINOT
Back on Jan. 5, 2019, the Golden Bears were unable to hang onto a double-digit first half lead as Minot State pulled away in the second half to hand CSP a 88-75 loss.

Minot State took advantage of some hot shooting on the night as they hit 52.5% (31-59) from the floor, 45.2% (14-31) from three-point range, and 85.7% (12-14) from the free throw line. Minot State also held a 14-8 edge in turnovers forced and a 22-7 edge in bench scoring in the game.
 
The Golden Bears were also efficient from the floor as they shot 50.8% (31-61), but they were unable to replicate MiSU's success from deep as they hit just 30.4% (7-23) of their attempts from beyond the arc. On the other side, CSP led 32-28 on the glass and 30-22 in points in the paint.
 
Concordia's two leading scorers were once again the senior pair of Bryndan Matthews and Isaiah McKay as the two of them combined for 43 of the team's 75 points on the night. Matthews hit 9-13 from the floor to lead the team with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds while McKay knocked down 9-16 to finish with 21 points as well as six assists.
 
Joining Matthews and McKay in double figures for Concordia were Cody Carlson and Elliot Kane as both finished with 11 points. Carlson also chipped in 11 rebounds for his first career double-double while Elliot Kane connected on three threes in the game.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
It's been a tale of two seasons for the Beavers as they opened the season by going a perfect 6-0 in non-conference play before dropping each of their first six conference games. Incredibly, five of their six losses in NSIC play have come by five or less points with four of those five coming by one possession.

In their final game of 2019, the Beavers dropped a heartbreaker at UMary in a 75-72 loss. Minot State overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but they were unable to close out the comeback in overtime as the Marauders sealed the win. 

Kyle Beisch, who led the team with 27 points in that loss, has been a big part of the Minot State offense with a team-best 20.0 points per game to go along with 5.2 rebounds per game. Max Cody has also been a stat-stuffer for the Beavers with 14.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 35.2 minutes per night. Kody Dwyer has added 10.3 and 5.6 boards as well.

NSIC LEADERS
Early in the season, Concordia has been a solid team from beyond the arc while also causing problems for their opponents with strong efforts in the blocks and steals categories. In league play, CSP ranks sixth in three-point percentage at 38.8% while also ranking ninth at 8.7 threes made per game. Their 6.8 steals per game rank fifth while their 2.8 blocks per game rank eighth.
 
Individually, Jordan Coblin ranks in the top-20 of the league in nine different categories. His 17.5 points per game rank 11th while his 4.8 assists per game rank third. He also sits in eighth in steals (1.5), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and fifth in minutes (33.6) on the season.
 
Jacob Shields has provided the Golden Bears with a physical presence as his 1.1 blocks per game sit in eighth, his 2.8 boards per game sit in 13th and his 1.8 offensive boards sit in 17th in the conference. Cody Carlson has added 6.2 boards, good for 15th, and a 52.3% field goal percentage, good for eighth.