ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-3, 0-2 NSIC) kicks off a four-game road trip this weekend as they travel to #14 Augustana (2-2, 0-2 NSIC) on Friday and Saturday for some NSIC action.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
A limited number of single-game tickets will be made available to the public each week for that weekend's games, starting Thursday at 10 a.m. Important information follows regarding spectator policies and how tickets will be physically distanced and sold this season.
 
All fans are required to wear face coverings at all times, except when actively eating or drinking. Masks are required across all NSIC contests this season and help support a safe environment for our student-athletes, staff and community. Disposable masks will be available at the entrance and fans not wearing face coverings appropriately will be asked to leave the facility.
 
Fans should also be aware that access to the seating section is only from the second level of the Sanford Pentagon. Fans will use the main entrance (only) and after scanning their ticket, will proceed to the second floor via the stairwells or elevator. Access to floor level at Heritage Court will be heavily restricted to student-athletes, coaches and working staff in accordance with NCAA SSI guidelines. All fans will enter the seating areas from the top of their respective seating section.
 
Tickets will be available in physically-distanced pod seating in groups of 2-4, and all seating is reserved (there will be no general admission tickets). Fans will be asked to purchase a pod of tickets corresponding to the size of their group. Groups larger than four will break up into multiple pods and can purchase seats near each other, assuming they are purchased at the same time. Unavailable seats are covered and fans must sit in the seats corresponding to their tickets.
 
Tickets are priced at $10/adult and $5/youth, with children under 3 years old admitted free as a "lap" seat. Tickets will be for sale online at GoAugie.com/tickets, Ticketmaster.com, by phone and in person at the Sanford Pentagon Box Office. The Pentagon box office is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and one hour prior to tip-off of games.

WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
Powered by the NSIC Network, all Northern Sun home and away basketball games will be broadcast online, free of charge. Visit www.nsicnetwork.com/cspbears to watch the Golden Bears. Away games will feature production and commentary by the host institution, while home games are broadcast by Keemotion technology with the play-by-play call of Dan Flanagan, voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. Flanagan is a St. Paul native who professionally trained in broadcasting at Fordham University in New York where he was the voice of the basketball and football teams, among other sports. NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ

WATCH ON YOUR TV
The NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology, is available to download on your favorite OTT providers like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Simply search for "NSIC" or "NSIC Network" and download the app for a full listing of Northern Sun action on your TV.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ

WATCH ON THE GO
Download the NSIC Network app in the Google Play Store or the App Store on your Apple device to watch on your smartphone, a new feature from BlueFrame Technology.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Not able to watch or keep an eye on live stats? Check in on social media by following our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. Each platform will have different levels of engagement. Twitter will offer scoring updates, Instagram will feature live look-ins and engaging content and Facebook is a great place to get links to previews, recaps and more. Simply search for CSP Bears on any of the platforms, and remember to #BeGolden!

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears dropped a pair of contests to Wayne State in their NSIC home opening weekend. The Wildcats claimed wins by scores of 88-76 and 82-60 in the two games.

On Friday, the Golden Bears picked up the pace down the stretch as they outscored the Wildcats 45-38 in the second half, including a 26-9 run to close out the game, but it was too little too late as WSC came out on top in the first game in league play.
 
Carlos Barela paced the Golden Bears with 14 points as he added five boards, five assists and three steals in a full line. Caden Hoffman chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists while Jax Madson and Noah Kannegiesser each added 10 points apiece. Madson also contributed seven boards and two steals while Kannegiesser matched Barela with a team-high five assists.
 
In Saturday's loss, the shots just weren't falling for the Golden Bears as they finished the game shooting 36.1% (22-61) from the floor and 22.2% (6-27) from beyond the arc. On the other side, WSC connected on 48.4% (31-64) of their shots and 50.0% (6-12) of their attempts from three-point range.

Three of Concordia's five starters reached double figures in scoring as Carlos Barela and Jax Madson both finished with 12 points and Jacob Shields added 10. Barela added a team-best eight rebounds while Shields added seven. Marcus Skeete added seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks off the bench.

AUGIE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Vikings will be meeting for the 30th and 31st times in the all-time series as Augustana holds a 24-5 edge in the previous 29 meetings. Augie has been especially dominant in the recent history of the series as they have won 17 in a row over CSP dating back to Jan. 3, 2012. Concordia's lone win in 13 trips to Augsutana came in an 89-84 overtime victory back on Dec. 28, 2004. In 22 meetings in conference play, Augie holds a record of 20-2.

LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
Back on Feb. 15, 2020, the Golden Bears were unable to make it three wins in a row as they fell 92-71 at Augustana.
 
The Vikings cooled down a Golden Bears squad that had been playing well over the past few contests as they made it 17 straight wins in the series, improving to 24-5 all-time and 12-1 in Sioux Falls.
 
Incredibly, CSP was far more efficient from the field than Augustana as they hit 51.9% (27-52) overall and 40.0% (8-20) from deep while holding the Vikings to 43.8% (32-73) and 33.3% (9-27) from three-point range.
 
Extra opportunities made the difference for Augie as they attempted 21 more shots and nine more free throws after claiming a 17-3 edge on the offensive glass, a 44-34 overall rebounding edge as well as a 16-8 edge in forced turnovers. Those factors results in a 27-5 edge in points off turnovers as well as a 19-2 edge in second chance points. CSP did, however, hold a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint as well.

Four out of five of Concordia's starters reached double digits in scoring on the night as Jacob Shields also reached the mark off the bench. Shields matched Lee Higgins for the team lead with 14 points as Shields hit 5-8 shots and added four blocks and four boards while Higgins connected on 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 from three-point range with five rebounds and three assists.
 
Cody Carlson added 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds while Jordan Coblin had 11 points and six boards and Max Keefe reached 10 points.

Dylan LeBrun paced the Vikings with a team-best 23 points, six assists and four steals while Tyler Riemersma tacked on 13 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double in the win.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Picked as the top team in the NSIC South Division, Augustana entered the season with high expectations. They got off to a strong start to the season with a big road sweep of MSU Moorhead, but were slowed down last weekend as they dropped a pair at Minnesota State.

The first weekend of conference play proved to be a tough one for the Vikings as they were unable to keep pace with the Mavericks in Mankato. On Friday night, the Vikings stormed back from a 13 point second half deficit  to tie it with under a minute to play, but a big three and some free throws down the stretch iced the game for MSU. Saturday's contest was a back and forth affair until late as the Mavericks pulled away to complete the sweep.

Tyler Riemersma, the NSIC South Player of the Week in the first week of the season, leads the way for the Vikings as he enters the weekend averaging 16.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. The big man has knocked down 53.1% of his shots and 50.0% of his three-point attempts so far this season while chipping in five blocks. He's one of four Augie players averaging double figures in scoring as he's joined by Michael Schaefer (13.5), Adam Dykman (11.3) and Matt Todd (11.3). Todd leads the squad with 3.0 assists per game while Riemersma and Todd are two of four Augustana players to average over a three made per game.

NSIC LEADERS
Over the season's firs two weekends, the Golden Bears thrived in several statistical areas as they rank in the top five in the NSIC in four different categories. CSP picked up 8.5 steals for game, good for second, while also ranking third in blocks per game at 3.3. Concordia also registered in at fifth in rebounding (37.5), fifth in free throw percentage (73.8%) as well as seventh in defensive field goal percentage (45.0%).
 
Individually, a balanced effort had four different Golden Bears ranking in the top 12 in different statistical categories. 

Carlos Barela has been productive in few areas as he sits in fourth in the NSIC with 2.0 steals per game while also ranking 12th in assists per game (3.0) and 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (12).

In addition to Barela, Matt Johns ranks fifth in blocks per game (1.8), Jacob Shields ranks eighth in free throw percentage (85.7%) and Marcus Skeete ranks 12th in offensive rebounds (1.8).