ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-11, 0-8 NSIC) wraps up the regular season this weekend as they host Minnesota State (8-6, 7-5 NSIC) on Friday and Saturday at Gangelhoff Center.

IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK
This weekend's games will be centered around the Northern Sun's "It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign in which all spectators will be encouraged to pledge not to drive drunk.

SENIOR DAY
Saturday's contest between CSP and MSU represents Senior Day as the Golden Bears will honor their seniors with a brief on-court ceremony.

Carlos Barela is an exercise science major from Alburquerque, N.M. He has been a regular starter over the past two years since joining from Scottsdale Community College, making 31 starts in 38 appearances. Barela leads the team with 12.8 points per game this season and has collected 353 points, 155 rebounds and 83 assists in his career in navy and gold.

Jacob Shields is a social work major from Houston, Texas. Since joining from Cloud County Community College prior to last season, he has tallied 8.4 points and 3.8 boards in 32 games, including 16 starts. Shields' 24 blocks last season were 20th-most in single-season history at Concordia.

Lee Higgins is a communications major from Chicago, Ill. A transfer from Des Moines Area Community College, Higgins has appeared in 50 games, making 30 starts, over the past three seasons. His best season came in 2019-20 as he averaged 12.6 points and 4.0 rebounds while putting up the third best single-season three-point percentage in program history at 51.4%.

Jordan Coblin is a business management major from Boca Raton, Fla. In his lone season on the court after joining from Purdue-Fort Wayne, Coblin ranked third in the NSIC in assists per game (4.9) and 11th in points per game (16.4). His 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked 13th while his 46.0% field goal percentage ranked 16th.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
As the state of Minnesota has eased restrictions on attendance at indoor sporting events, CSP athletics has adapted to allow limited Will Call only attendance at this weekend's games. There are no ticket sales to the general public or additional pass list options available outside of the CSP family will call list. Policies will continue to be revisited as national, state, local and campus guidance and regulations shift. Institutional Ticket Policy (1/12) 
 
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 in Winona, the Golden Bears saw the Warriors pull away late in a pair of contests at McCown Gymnasium.

In the first game of the weekend, CSP saw Winona State pull away in the second half as the Warriors picked up a 76-62 win on Friday night. With the Golden Bears pulling to within four at 40-36 with 15:20 left on the clock, an 11-0 run in favor of WSC put the game out of reach as the hosts cruised to a comfortable victory.

The Golden Bears matched a season high with 12 made threes while connecting at a season-best 48.0% clip. Concordia was unable to replicate that success inside the arc as they finished with just 14 points in the paint while shooting 10-31 (32.3%) inside the arc to finish at 39.3% (22-56) overall. It was the opposite story for the Warriors as Winona State hit 33.3% (8-24) from deep and 18-30 (60.0%) from inside the arc for a total of 48.1% (26-54) from the floor.

The trio of Jax Madson, Caden Hoffman and Carlos Barela all reached a dozen points as Madson led the way with 14 points on 5-9 shooting and 3-5 from deep. Hoffman added 12 points on 4-8 from three-point range while Barela finished with 12 points and seven boards.
 
On Saturday, the Golden Bears dropped their final road contest of the season by a score of 77-58. The second game of the weekend followed a very similar script as the Golden Bears closed the gap to four early in the second half before the Warriors ballooned their lead down the stretch to claim the sweep.

Sophomore George Scharlau was nearly perfect from the field as the big man hit six of his seven shots for a career-high 17 points off the bench. Scharlau knocked down 2-3 from deep and 3-4 from the free throw line while chipping in six rebounds and two assists. Marcus Skeete reached double figures for the fifth time in six games as he finished with 10 points while Matt Johns hit 4-5 from the field to pick up eight points. Jax Madson added six points and six boards while Caden Hoffman had five rebounds and five assists.

While the Golden Bears utilized a 23-14 edge in bench scoring as well as a 34-26 edge in points in the paint, turnovers proved to be their undoing as Winona State turned 18 CSP turnovers into 22 points while turning it over just eight times resulting in seven points for the Golden Bears.

MSU SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday's meeting marks the 35th time the two schools have met on the court. In the previous 34 meetings, CSP has gone 6-28 against MSU. The series has been tipped in favor of the Mavericks over the past few years as MSU has won 16 of the last 17 meetings dating back to the 2012-13 season. On their home court, the Golden Bears have compiled a 4-12 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 Dec. 21, 2019, CSP was unable to keep pace with Minnesota State as the Golden Bears fell 85-68 at Taylor Center. For the second time in four days, the Mavericks jumped out to an early lead and the Golden Bears were unable to recover.

Concordia held the edge down low in the contest as they had a 34-32 advantage in points in the paint, a 10-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 12-8 advantage in second chance points, but they were unable to capitalize on that as efficiency proved to be the determining factor in the game.
 
The Mavericks connected at a high clip in the game as they hit 50.8% (30-59) from the floor, 46.4% (13-28) from three-point range and 80.0% (12-15) from the free throw line while CSP finished at 44.3% (27-61), 29.2% (7-24) and 58.3% (7-12), respectively.

One game after stepping into the starting lineup, Lee Higgins delivered his best performance of the season with 14 points on 5-11 shooting to go along with 11 boards and five assists for his first double-double of the year. Jacob Shields gave the Golden Bears a spark off the bench with 13 points on 6-10 shooting while George Scharlau and Carlos Barela added eight points apiece. Scharlau tacked on seven rebounds while Barela added four boards and four steals in the loss.

Ryland Holt led all players in scoring for the second consecutive game as he finished with 24 points on 9-14 shooting while Landon Wolfe hit 5-6 from deep to contribute 19 points in the win for the Mavericks.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State enters the weekend with a lot to play for as they sit in third place in the NSIC South, just a half game ahead of Augustana in fourth and a game ahead of Sioux Falls and Winona State in fifth and sixth. After winning seven of their first nine games of the season, MSU has dropped four of five to fall to 8-6 overall and 7-5 in league play.

Last Friday, the Mavericks could not hold off Upper Iowa late Friday evening as the Peacocks defeated the Mavericks 96-94. The lead would exchange hands five times during the closing minutes. A jumper from Anderson gave the Mavericks a 94-93 lead with :28 to go, but a three-point play from Joe Smoldt with :09 to go put the Peacocks up 96-94. MSU's final shot missed the mark as UIU held on for the 96-64 win.

On Saturday, MSU was not able to gain a weekend split with Upper Iowa Saturday afternoon as the Peacocks defeated the Mavericks 94-87. The Mavericks managed to get back within four points on a few occasions in the closing seconds of the game but Upper Iowa was able to connect on their free throws to keep its lead as the Peacocks closed out the game with a 94-87 win.

On the year, sophomore Quincy Anderson has been a standout performer for the Mavericks, leading the way with 17.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Three more MSU players have averaged double figures with Devonte Thedford at 12.9, Malik Willingham at 11.6 and Ryland Holt at 11.3. Rounding out the starting five, Kelby Kramer has matched Anderson with 5.9 boards per night while shooting 70.4% from the floor.

NSIC LEADERS
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Golden Bears thrived in a couple of defensive categories as they rank in the top half of the league in both blocks and defensive field goal percentage. Their mark of 4.4 blocks per game ranks third in the NSIC while their 46.1% defensive field goal percentage ranks eighth. CSP also sits in ninth in threes made (7.9), assists (12.7) and free throw percentage (72.8%).
 
Individually, seven different players rank inside the top 25 in at least one category.

Carlos Barela and Caden Hoffman both rank near the top in a pair of categories as Barela ranks eighth in free throw percentage at 81.6% and 20th in steals per game at 1.3 while Hoffman ranks 20th in assists per game at 2.8 and 20th in threes made per game 1.8.

Marcus Skeete has been effective on the glass as he sits in ninth in rebounds per game at 6.4 while his 1.8 offensive boards rank 12th and his 4.6 defensive boards rank 15th. Jax Madson adds the 17th-most threes made per game at 1.9 while Matt Johns (fifth at 1.7), George Scharlau (10th at 0.9) and Keenan Jones (24th at 0.6) all rank in the top 25 in blocks per game.