ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (6-14, 4-12 NSIC) returns home this weekend as they play host to Bemidji State (9-11, 6-10 NSIC) on Friday and Minnesota Crookston (9-13, 5-11 NSIC) on Saturday.

PINK NIGHT
On Friday, CSP's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting Pink Night at both the men's and women's basketball games against Bemidji State. This initiative is centered on honoring those who are currently fighting cancer, those who are survivors of cancer, and those who may have lost a loved one to cancer. The SAAC group is raising funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation with pink t-shirts available for purchase for $10 at Bear Wear at both games. Donations can also be made at this link.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears went 0-2 on the road as they fell 88-60 at Northern State on Friday before falling to MSU Moorhead 85-72 on Saturday.

Concordia's opponents got to the free throw line early and often as they hit 35-45 (77.8%) from the charity stripe while CSP went 12-18 (66.7%) over the two games. The Golden Bears did, however, manage to edge their opponents from deep as they hit 18-54 (.333) compared to 18-55 (.327) for the two opposing schools. Overall, CSP had six different players average at least 7.0 points per game on the weekend.
 
Of that group, Cody Carlson paced the squad with 13.5 points on 52.0% (13-25) shooting to go along with 4.0 boards and 2.0 assists in his 22.5 minutes per game. Lee Higgins chipped in 12.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in a team-leading 31.5 minutes per night while Max Keefe also reached double figures with 10.5 points per game.

BSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Friday night with a nearly even record against the Beavers as CSP has gone 16-17 in the previous 33 meetings. Concordia has turned the momentum heavily in their favor since 2005 as they have won 15 of the last 22 meetings since then. CSP had a four-game winning streak in the series snapped two years ago as BSU has won the last three meetings. Concordia has dominated the series on their home court as they have won 11 of 16 meetings there.

LAST MEETING VS BSU
Nearly a year ago to the day on Feb. 8, 2019, Concordia built a double-digit lead in the opening half before seeing Bemidji State storm back to hand the Golden Bears a 73-58 loss in Bemidji

Three-point shooting proved to be the difference on the night as the Golden Bears allowed a season-high 17 threes made with the Beavers knocking down 17-37 (45.9%). CSP connected on 9-23 (39.1%) from deep on the other end. Overall from the floor, neither team shot a high percentage as BSU hit 40.3% (25-62) and CSP hit 39.3% (24-61).
 
Bemidji State also won the battle on the glass (39-36) and outscored CSP 15-6 in points off of turnovers. CSP, on the other end, held a 22-10 edge in points in the paint and a 13-9 edge in bench scoring.
 
Isaiah McKay led the Golden Bears with 15 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists while Cody Carlson also reached double figures with 14 points and eight boards. McKay hit 6-13 from the floor while Carlson hit 6-9. While Bryndan Matthews was held to just four points, he added a team-best nine rebounds and six assists in the loss.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
It's been a tale of two seasons for Bemidji State as the Beavers got off to a red-hot start before cooling considerably recently. BSU opened the season with a 7-3 start overall and a 4-2 start in league play. After rattling off four straight wins to end 2019, the Beavers dropped eight of the next nine before getting back in the win column in their last game.

Last weekend at home, Bemidji State dropped their seventh straight game to Sioux Falls on Friday before snapping the streak with a 78-64 win over Southwest Minnesota State. BSU connected on 52.1% from the field and 52.0% from deep as Max Bjorklund and Nick Wagner combined for 41 points in the win.

Wagner leads the team with 16.7 points per game on the season with 3.1 boards and 2.6 assists in 35.6 minutes per night. He is one of four active players averaging double figures in scoring as Derek Thompson has put up 13.5 points and 5.9 rebounds, Logan Bader has put up 11.7 points and 7.6 boards and Max Bjorklund has also put up 11.7 points as well.

UMC SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's meeting with Minnesota Crookston marks the 31st meeting between the two schools as CSP holds a record of 23-7 in 30 previous meetings with UMC. The Golden Eagles have started to turn the tide over the past few seasons as they followed up a nine-game winning streak for the Golden Bears with wins in three of the past four. 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 11-4 on the road.

LAST MEETING VS UMC
Back on Feb. 9 of last season, the Golden Bears were unable to keep pace with Minnesota Crookston on the road as the Golden Bears fell to the Golden Eagles 81-61.

Turnovers and rebounding cost the Golden Bears as UMC won the turnover battle 17-8 and outscored CSP 19-3 in second chance points while holding a 13-9 edge in offensive rebounds. Concordia, however, managed a 16-0 advantage in fast break points as well as a 34-22 advantage in points in the paint in the loss.
 
Bryndan Matthews was the top scorer on the night as he led all players with 19 points on 8-14 shooting in the game. Matthews filled the stat sheet with five assists, four steals and four rebounds as well. Cody Carlson and Elliot Kane also reached double figures with 10 points apiece as Carlson added seven boards and Kane chipped in four.
 
The Golden Eagles featured a balanced offense with five players in double figures, led by 17 from Javier Nicolau. Malcolm Cohen and Brian Sitzmann each contributed 15 points apiece as well in the win.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
It's been a bit of an up-and-down season for Minnesota Crookston as they enter the weekend with a 9-13 record overall and a 5-11 record in league play. After a 4-2 stretch against a competitive non-conference slate and 3-2 start in conference play, UMC has found wins harder to come by as they have dropped nine of their last 11 games since then

Last weekend on their home court, the Golden Eagles dropped a pair of games to Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. In Friday's loss to the Mustangs, guard Harrison Cleary became the NSIC's all-time leading scorer, surpassing St. Cloud State's Gage Davis for the top spot. Cleary poured in 29 points in the game to bring his NSIC scoring total to 1,933 and his overall scoring total to 2,658.

On the season, Cleary has been the focal point of the Golden Eagles offense with a conference-leading 27.5 points to go along with 4.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds. The senior has been nearly automatic at the free throw line, shooting 92.3%, while knocking down 42.3% from the floor. Malcolm Cohen has added 9.7 points and 3.4 boards while Chase Johnson leads the team with 5.2 rebounds per game while also chipping in 4.4 points.

NSIC LEADERS
So far in the conference season, Concordia has been an efficient offensive squad as they rank fifth the league in three-point percentage (39.0%) and rank sixth in field goal percentage (46.1%). The Golden Bears also rank near the top in a few other offensive categories, ranking sixth in threes made (8.7) and fourth in assists (13.6).
 
Individually, Jordan Coblin ranks in the top-20 of the league in eight different categories and in the top-10 in a pair of those categories. His 16.7 points per game rank 12th while his 4.8 assists per game rank third. He also sits in 12th in minutes (32.9), 17th in field goal percentage (46.1%), 19th in threes made (1.9) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3).
 
Cody Carlson has been effective on the glass as he ranks 15th in rebounding (6.2), putting him in the top-20 in both offensive and defensive rebounding. Carlos Barela ranks 20th in steals (1.1) while Jacob Shields ranks 20th in blocks (0.7).