ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-12, 0-7 NSIC) opens up 2022 on the road this weekend as they travel to Minnesota State (9-4, 3-4 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon in NSIC play. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
New this year to Golden Bears is online ticketing. Buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with cash at the gates. Find out more in the partnership announcement between CSP Athletics and HomeTown Ticketing.
 
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC men's and women's basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In the final weekend of play in 2021, the Golden Bears fell to Southwest Minnesota State 83-70 on Friday, Dec. 17 and Sioux Falls 80-69 on Saturday, Dec. 18.
 
In the loss to SMSU, the Golden Bears set new season highs in both threes made and three-point field goal percentage as they knocked down 13-26 from deep for a 50.0% mark. Their 13 made threes were the most since knocking down 16 in a dramatic double-overtime loss to Minnesota Duluth in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament back on Feb. 26, 2020.
 
The freshman trio of Jacob Everson, Reid Patterson and Ian Sluice combined for 11 of the team's 13 threes as Everson and Patterson had four each and Sluice had three. Everson missed just one of his six shots from the floor and finished 4-4 from deep to finish with 14 points while Patterson hit 4-6 to match his team-leading 14 points. Sluice knocked down 5-9 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc to finish a point shy with 13. 
 
Against the Cougars, The Golden Bears were able to work some easy looks in the second half, shooting 62.1% (18-29) from the floor to outscore the Cougars 41-34 in the final 20 minutes, with 32 of those 41 points coming in the paint.
 
Jacob Everson kept CSP afloat in the opening half as he scored 16 of his game-high and career-high 21 points before the break. On the night, he hit 7-11 from the floor and 2-4 from three-point range with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action. Elijah Ormiston also filled the stat sheet with 16 points, a team-best eight boards and four assists as he hit 6-12 shooting. Sunday John and Marcus Skeete gave the team four players in double figures as John hit 4-6 from the floor for 11 points while Skeete finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
 
MSU SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's meeting marks the 38th time the two schools have met on the court. In the previous 37 meetings, CSP has gone 6-31 against MSU. The series has been tipped in favor of the Mavericks over the past few years as MSU has won 19 of the last 20 meetings and 15 in a row dating back to the 2011-12 season. On their home court, the Golden Bears have compiled a 4-15 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 Nov. 23, Concordia-St. Paul cut a 14-point halftime deficit in half, but were unable to complete the comeback as they fell 81-66 to Minnesota State in the NSIC opener at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears trimmed it to 55-48 with 9:14 to play in the contest with an extended 19-7 run, but that would be all the closer they would get as Minnesota State made it 15 straight wins in the series.
 
Concordia once again utilized a strong bench unit as they finished the night with a 34-12 advantage in bench scoring in the loss. The freshman trio of Ian Sluice, Jacob Everson and Sunday John combined 26 of those 34 bench points as Sluice scored nine points on 3-4 from deep, Everson hit 3-4 from the floor for nine points, four assists and three boards and John hit 4-6 for eight points on the night.
 
Marcus Skeete paced the squad with 16 points on the night as he knocked down 7-11 from the floor and picked up three boards in his 24 minutes of action. Seven different Golden Bears had at least three rebounds while 11 had at least two in the loss
 
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
After opening the season with seven consecutive victories, Minnesota State has cooled off a bit with two wins in their last six games to bring their record to 9-4 overall. MSU dropped below .500 in conference play with four losses in their last five league games, dropping their final NSIC contest of the year in a down-to-the-wire 71-69 loss to SMSU. The Mavericks got back in the win column after that loss with a non-conference victory over Dakota State on Dec. 20.
 
Minnesota State ranks near the top of the league in efficiency on both ends of the court as their 49.1% field goal percentage ranks fifth in the NSIC while their 42.5% field goal defense ranks second. The Mavericks have had their way down low as their 38.4 rebounds per game and 5.62 blocks per game both lead the league. MSU also ranks second in steals per game at 7.31 and fifth in scoring margin at +7.5.
 
Quincy Anderson has played a leading role offensively for MSU as his 17.7 points per game are good for eighth in the NSIC while his 1.9 made threes per game ranks 17^th and his 46.1% field goal percentage ranks 20^th. Kelby Kramer leads the conference by a wide margin with 2.2 blocks per game, 0.7 blocks ahead of the next highest player, while Ryland Holt ranks fourth at 1.3. Kramer also ranks 10^th with 7.4 rebounds per game. Devonte Thedford has connected on 53.4% from the floor, good for seventh in the league.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears have had three different players that rank near the top of the league in different statistical categories.
 
Marcus Skeete has been a versatile player for CSP as he ranks 12^th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (50.0%), 25^th in rebounds per game (5.7), 16th in assist per game (3.2) and 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0). Elijah Ormiston sits in 16^th in field goal percentage at 48.9% and 17^th in rebounds per game at 6.4 while Jack Stensgard ranks 11^th in blocks per game (0.8) and 20^th in assists per game (2.7).
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have defended the arc well as their 66 made threes allowed is the fewest in the conference while their 32.4% opponent three-point percentage ranks fourth. CSP also ranks fourth in blocks per game at 3.23 and sixth in assists per game at 14.77.