ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-3) is set for a busy week as they play host to Minnesota State (3-0) in the NSIC opener on Tuesday night before traveling out west to Regis (2-1) on Friday and MSU Denver (3-0) on Saturday.
 
FIRST RESPONDERS NIGHT
All first responders receive free admission to Tuesday night's NSIC basketball doubleheader against the Mavericks.
 
CSP CAMPUS MASKING POLICY
Visitors to Concordia-St. Paul should observe the general campus masking guidelines. All unvaccinated individuals are required to mask at all times while indoors on campus. For individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, masks are strongly encouraged. Thank you for abiding by the policies as set forth by campus administration.
 
MSU SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's meeting marks the 37th time the two schools have met on the court. In the previous 36 meetings, CSP has gone 6-30 against MSU. The series has been tipped in favor of the Mavericks over the past few years as MSU has won 18 of the last 19 meetings and 14 in a row dating back to the 2011-12 season. On their home court, the Golden Bears have compiled a 4-14 record against the Mavericks and a 2-15 record in Mankato. Their last win in the series came back on Dec. 20, 2014 in a thrilling 75-73 victory in St. Paul.
 
LAST MEETING VS MSU
Back on Feb. 20, CSP mounted a furious comeback in the second half, but they saw their efforts come up just short as Minnesota State held on for a 93-89 win at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Trailing by 22 with just 11:31 left to play, Concordia put together one of their best stretches of the season as their high energy play led to a 30-11 over the next 11 minutes to make it a one possession game in the final minute of play. The dramatic surge fell just shy, however, as the Mavericks iced the game with a pair of free throws to bring it to the final score.
 
It was a shootout in the season finale as both teams connected on 54.0% or better from the floor. The Golden Bears hit 54.8% (34-62) of their shots while MSU missed one more shot at 54.0% (34-63). Minnesota State finished a little bit better from deep as they hit 45.0% (9-20) compared to 36.7% (11-30) for CSP. The mark of 54.8% was a season-best for Concordia, eclipsing their mark of 49.2% in the season opener against UMC.
 
 
Caden Hoffman put up his best game in a Golden Bear uniform as he led the squad with 21 points on 8-14 shooting and 5-10 from three to go along with four rebounds and four assists on the night. Jax Madson and Matt Johns added 14 points apiece and George Scharlau chipped in 13 points off the bench.
 
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State enters the week the owner of a 3-0 record, which includes an 84-69 nonconference win over St. Cloud State at home last weekend.
 
As a team, MSU is averaging 84.3 points and 37.0 rebounds per game while shooting 57.1% from the field. The Mavericks are also shooting 39.6% from three point range and have passed out 37 assists.
 
Sophomore Quincy Anderson is leading the Mavericks with 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game this season. Junior Devonte Thedford has tallied 13.0 points per game and is shooting 63.0% from the field. Junior Kelby Kramer is posting 10.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 93.8% from the field.
 
The Mavericks are led by Matt Margenthaler, who is in his 21st season at Minnesota State. He owns a career record of 423-187 (.693).
 
REGIS SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Rangers are meeting for the third time ever and first time since 2009 as the two schools split the previous two meetings. CSP claimed a 63-57 victory in Puerto Rico back on Dec. 2, 2005 before Regis responded with a 73-59 win in St. Paul on Dec. 19, 2009.
 
MSU DENVER SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears will be meeting the Roadrunners for the first time ever on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Last Friday night, the Golden Bears dropped a fast paced contest to Minnesota Duluth by a score of 99-76 at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears held a significant edge at the free throw line as they hit 22-27 (81.5%) compared to 11-19 (57.9%) for the Bulldogs. Concordia also tallied a massive 39-8 advantage in bench scoring.
 
Sunday John played a major role in that bench advantage as he hit 5-6 from the floor and 7-7 from the charity stripe to lead the team with career-best 18 points. He added six boards in his 18 minutes of action.
 
John was one of four Golden Bears in double figures in scoring as he was joined by Marcus Skeete, Elijah Ormiston and Jack Stensgard. Skeete connected on six of his 10 attempts to finish with 15 points and five rebounds while Ormiston put up 12 points on 5-9 shooting to go along with a team-best eight boards. Stensgard tacked on 10 points and five assists on the night.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
The Golden Bears enter the week with several players ranking near the top of the NSIC in different statistical categories.
 
Matt Johns ranks third in the conference in blocks per game at 1.8 while Roy Grigsby also ranks inside the top 20 at 17^th with 0.8 per game. Johns also registers in at 24^th with a 71.4% free throw percentage. Fellow big man Elijah Ormiston sits inside the top 10 in rebounding as his 7.8 boards per game rank 10^th and his 2.5 offensive boards per game rank seventh.
 
Marcus Skeete has been one of the more efficient scorers in the conference as his 61.8% (21-34) field goal percentage ranks ninth in the NSIC and fifth among players with at least 30 attempts. Sunday John is one of five players in the league to be shooting a perfect 100.0% from the charity stripe, knocking down all nine of his attempts.
 
Jack Stensgard and Caden Hoffman rank tied for 15th in assists per game with 3.5 apiece while Stensgard's 2.0 assists/turnover ratio also ranks 14^th.