ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-14, 3-13 NSIC) travels north this weekend to Bemidji State (7-13, 4-12 NSIC) on Friday and Minnesota Crookston (13-12, 6-10 NSIC) on Saturday for some NSIC action.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears saw a first half lead disappear in a 90-79 loss to Northern State on Friday before falling to MSU Moorhead 102-90 on Saturday.

CSP connected on a combined 46.8% (59-126) from the floor and 43.5% (31-40) from deep while their opponents finished at 53.7% (66-123) and 50.0% (26-52), respectively, on the weekend. Concordia won the battle in the paint over the two games as they outscored their opponents 66-60 down low while also holding a 19-16 edge in offensive rebounds.

Bryndan Matthews scored 20+ in both games on the weekend to finish with a team-high 24.0 points, 7.5 boards and 2.0 steals on 54.8% (17-31) from the field. Isaiah McKay put up 22.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his 29.0 minutes of action over the two games on the weekend.

BSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Friday night with an even record against the Beavers as CSP has gone 16-16 in the previous 32 meetings. Concordia has turned the momentum heavily in their favor since 2005 as they have won 15 of the last 21 meetings since then. CSP had a four-game winning streak in the series snapped two years ago as BSU has won the last two meetings. Bemidji State has dominated the series in Bemidji as they have won 11 of 16 meetings there.

LAST MEETING VS BSU
On Jan. 26, 2018, CSP was unable to hold onto a first half lead as Bemidji State stormed back to knocked off CSP 82-76 at Gangelhoff Center.

While both teams finished with a nearly identical mark from the field with Concordia shooting 47.8% (33-69) and Bemidji State shooting 47.4% (27-57), they took entirely different routes to get there. CSP shot an efficient 51.6% (16-31) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including 46.2% (6-13) from deep, while holding BSU to 41.4% (12-29). 

The script was flipped after the break as the Golden Bears were slowed to 44.7% (17-38) shooting in the second half and just 10.0% (1-10) from three while the Beavers surged to 53.6% (15-28) in the final 20 minutes. Overall, Bemidji State more than doubled up Concordia as they hit 15 threes compared to seven for CSP.

It was the potent combination of Bryndan Matthews and Avan Ward that combined for 63.2% of the team's scoring output as both surpassed the 20 point mark. Matthews set a new career best with 28 points on 13-25 shooting while he also added 12 rebounds for his fourth 20-10 game on the season. Ward made it six games with 20+ as he poured in 20 points on 8-19 from the floor and 4-9 from deep. He also added six assists and five boards in a full line.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
After claiming three wins in four non-conference contests, Bemidji State has picked up four wins in their 16 NSIC matchups to put them in eighth place in the NSIC North.

The Beavers have turned things around in recent weeks as they snapped a nine-game losing streak in league action with a win over Upper Iowa to spark a stretch of three wins in five games. Perhaps the biggest win over that span came last Friday night as BSU picked up an impressive 76-73 road win at Sioux Falls before falling at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.

The Bemidji State lineup features four players that average double figures in scoring, led by Derek Thompson and his 15.9 points per game. Thompson also leads the squad with 6.6 boards per game while Ja Morgan paces the team with 6.4 assists per game to go along with 11.6 points per game. Jacob Hoffman (11.4 PPG) and Logan Bader (10.8 PPG) also average double figures in scoring on the season.

UMC SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting with Minnesota Crookston marks the 29th meeting between the two schools as CSP holds a record of 23-5 in 28 previous meetings with UMC. The Golden Bears have never lost back-to-back meetings to the Golden Eagles and have won 10 of the last 11 against Minnesota Crookston. Concordia has put up nearly identical records at home and on the road against the Golden Eagles as they have gone 12-2 at home and 11-3 on the road.

LAST MEETING VS UMC
In last season's meeting between the two schools, the Golden Bears led nearly the entire night as they weathered a late Minnesota Crookston run to claim a 74-68 victory at Gangelhoff Center.

The Golden Bears dominated down low with a massive 40-16 edge in points in the paint while shooting an impressive 57.1% (28-49) from the floor on the night. While they didn't attempt many from deep, CSP did take advantage of their opportunities as they hit 5-11 (45.5%) from three-point range. Concordia also took advantage of transition play with 11 fast break points compared to none for the Golden Eagles.
 
Concordia's defense also played a role as they held UMC to just 35.8% (19-53) shooting and just 24.0% (6-25) from deep. That differential from the field more than negated the Golden Eagles' 92.3% (24-26) from the free throw line and 17-10 edge in points off turnovers.

One night after scoring a career-high 28 points against the Beavers, Bryndan Matthews outdid himself with 29 points in the win as he hit several big shots to keep CSP in the lead. Matthews connected on 11-19 shooting while also chipping in three steals, three assists and two rebounds.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Minnesota Crookston has had a bit of an up-and-down year as they put together an impressive 7-2 mark in non-conference before going 6-10 in the NSIC.

UMC got off to a slow start in the league with four losses in their first five games before winning five of seven to pull back even in NSIC play at 6-6. Since then, the Golden Eagles have dropped four straight games on the road with losses at UMary, Minot State, SMSU and Sioux Falls. During the recent losing streak, UMC has allowed over 80 points in three of the four losses.

The Golden Eagles have relied heavily on Harrison Cleary on the offensive end this season as the junior guard ranks fourth in the league with 21.8 points per game, accounting for nearly 30% of the team's scoring output. Chase Knickerbocker and Ben Juhl have also averaged double digits in scoring with 11.5 points and 10.2 points, respectively.

NCAA/NSIC LEADERS
Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the Golden Bears have several players rank near the top of the NSIC and the nation in different statistical categories.

Bryndan Matthews has been one of the top players in the country this season as he ranks ninth in the conference and 77th in NCAA DII in scoring (19.1) while ranking second in the conference and 61st in the nation in rebounding (8.4). Matthews also registers in at sixth in the NSIC and 120th in the nation in assists per game (4.0), sixth in the NSIC in offensive rebounds per game (2.0), third in the NSIC and 44th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4) and second in the NSIC and 23rd in the nation in field goal percentage (59.8%) all in an NSIC-leading 37.3 minutes per game.
 
In addition, Isaiah McKay ranks near the top in quite a few categories as well. McKay ranks just ahead of Matthews in scoring (19.5) to rank seventh in the league and rank 64th in the country while ranking eighth in the conference in threes made per game (2.5) and 143rd in the country, fourth in the conference and 15th in the nation in free throw percentage (90.3%) and 11th in the conference in assists per game (3.4).

Hayden Baughman also ranks 10th in the league in threes made per game (2.4) as well as 12th in three-point percentage (46.2%).

CLIMBING THE RANKS
Senior Bryndan Matthews has been a major contributor throughout his four seasons on campus and is climbing the career ranks at Concordia. The Eagan native is up to second in scoring (1,688), second in rebounding (765), fourth in rebounds per game (7.0), second in field goals made (623), second in free throws made (374), sixth in assists (273) and sixth in steals (131) in his career at CSP. Matthews is 80 points shy of Craig Heiman for the all-time scoring record at Concordia.