ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-8, 0-3 NSIC) is back on the road this weekend as they travel to Wayne State (5-4, 2-1 NSIC) on Friday and Augustana (8-1, 2-1 NSIC) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on both days.
 
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.
 
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
Last weekend in a split weekend, CSP dropped contests to Winona State and Upper Iowa.
 
On Thursday, Concordia was done in by a last second game winner as an and-one layup with 4.4 seconds to play gave Winona State a 68-63 victory at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, including a 13 point deficit with 11:51 to play, the Golden Bears showed their resilience as they stormed back with an 18-3 run to take the lead in the closing minutes.
 
Marcus Skeete once again paced the Golden Bears as he played the role of creator on the night, flirting with a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes of action. The double-double was his first of the season and his fourth of his career. Jacob Everson matched Skeete for the team lead in scoring as he put up an efficient 13 points on 4-6 shooting and 3-4 from the floor. Elijah Ormiston added eight points and five boards on the night.
 
On Saturday, the Golden Bears were unable to dig themselves out of an early hole as they fell to #19 Upper Iowa 86-73 in Fayette.
 
Elijah Ormiston put together his best game of his young career as he paced all players with a career-best 28 points while finishing a rebound shy of a double-double with nine. He connected on 13-19 from the floor as his 13 made field goals tied for third-most in program history.
 
Jacob Everson finished in double figures for the third straight game as he scored 15 points on 4-8 shooting and 3-5 from deep. During his three-game hot streak, Everson has averaged 14.7 points on 65.0% (13-20) and 71.4% (10-14) from three-point range. Roy Grigsby added nine points on 3-6 from the floor and 2-2 from beyond the arc while Marcus Skeete tallied five points, six assists and five rebounds.
 
WSC SERIES HISTORY
Heading into the weekend, WSC holds a slight edge in the all-time series as they have claimed 26 wins while CSP has picked up 19 in the 45 previous meetings. Since a stretch from 2006-2011 that saw Concordia win nine of 10 meetings, the Wildcats have turned the momentum in their favor with 16 wins in the last 21 and nine of 10. Concordia has found much more success on their home court as they have gone 12-12 in St. Paul and 7-14 in Wayne in the series.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
Back on Jan. 9, the Concordia Golden Bears saw the Wayne State Wildcats pull away in the second half as they dropped the second game of the weekend by a score of 82-60.
 
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.
 
The Golden Bears did manage a 10-8 edge in second chance points due to a 9-8 advantage on the offensive glass, but it wasn't enough to make the difference as WSC also held a 44-30 edge in the paint and an 18-9 edge in points off of turnovers.
 
Three of Concordia's five starters reached double figures in scoring, led by Jax Madson's 12 points. Marcus Skeete added seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks off the bench.
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
After dropping their first two contests of the season, Wayne State has picked up wins in five of their last seven, including two of three in conference play. WSC's three NSIC games have been decided by a combined nine points as they claimed a 63-59 win over Augustana and a 68-65 win over SMSU before falling to Sioux Falls 81-79 on the road.
 
The Wildcats have been one slower paced teams in the NSIC so far this season as their 71.4 points per game rank 14^th and their 67.9 points allowed per game rank fourth. One of their biggest strengths has been their ability to force turnovers as their 14.4 turnovers forced per game and their +3.78 turnover margin both pace the conference. WSC also ranks second with 3.78 blocks per game.
 
The duo of Jordan Janssen and Justin Eagins have combined for 31.8 of the team's 71.4 points per game as Janssen ranks 11^th in the league at 17.0 and Eagins ranks 16^th with 14.8. Janssen also ranks fourth in the NSIC in steals per game at 1.8, fifth in rebounds per game at 8.1 and 10^th with a 55.7% field goal percentage. Ben Dentlinger adds the second-most blocked shots per game at 1.5.
 
AUGIE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Vikings will be meeting for the 32nd time in the all-time series as Augustana holds a 26-5 edge in the previous 31 meetings. Augie has been especially dominant in the recent history of the series as they have won 19 in a row over CSP dating back to Jan. 3, 2012. Concordia's lone win in 15 trips to Augustana came in an 89-84 overtime victory back on Dec. 28, 2004. In 22 meetings in conference play, Augie holds a record of 22-2.
 
LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
Back on Jan. 16, Concordia fell to Augustana 91-52 at Sanford Pentagon.
 
The Vikings followed a similar script to victory in both games on the weekend as they used a 14-2 edge on the offensive glass to build a 15-0 advantage in second chance points while also collecting a 56-16 edge in points in the paint and a 29-2 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Concordia did manage to win the battle beyond the arc as they hit 9-31 (29.0%) compared to 6-21 (28.6%) for Augustana, but Augie was more efficient overall from the floor as they hit 35-77 (45.5%) while CSP hit 17-49 (34.7%).
 
Matt Johns was the top producer for Concordia in the contest as he led the team with 16 points and a pair of blocks as he hit 5-11 from the field and 4-9 from deep. Caden Hoffman led the team with seven boards and three assists while Jax Madson finished with seven points and five rebounds in the loss. 


ABOUT THE VIKINGS
The Vikings have opened the season with eight wins in their first 10 games, including four in a row. Following a 63-59 road loss at Wayne State, Augie has rattled off four wins in a row against Doane, Grand View, Sioux Falls and SMSU. Six of the team's eight wins have come by double figures.
 
The Vikings boast the fourth best scoring margin in the NSIC as they are +12.4 so far this season, registering the second-fewest points allowed at 64.6 and eighth-most points scored at 77.0. Augustana has dominated on the glass as their +8.7 rebounding margin ranks second in the NSIC and their 12.3 offensive boards per game rank first. They also dish out the fourth-most assists per game at 15.6.
 
Both Isaac Fink and Tyler Riemersma rank inside the top-10 in scoring in the conference as Fink's 18.7 points per game sit in seventh and Riemersma's 17.1 points per game sits in 10^th. Riemersma also ranks second with 1.9 steals per game, third with 9.9 rebounds per game and sixth with a 58.1% field goal percentage. Fink ranks second in three-point percentage at 53.5% and sixth in threes made at 2.6.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears have had four 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 17^th in the NSIC in scoring (14.6), 11^th in field goal percentage (54.6%), 20^th in rebounds per game (6.2) and 21^st in assist per game (2.9). Jack Stensgard registers in in several categories as well, ranking 13^th in blocks per game (0.9), 16^th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 19^th in assists per game (3.0). Matt Johns adds the eighth-most blocks per game at 1.1 while Elijah Ormiston's 6.0 rebounds per game rank 22^nd.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have collected the sixth-most assists per game in the league at 15.2 and sixth-most blocks per game at 3.22.