ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-16, 1-10 NSIC) will look to carry their momentum on the road as they travel to UMary (5-11, 4-7 NSIC) for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Friday and Minot State (10-4, 4-4 NSIC) for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off on Saturday in NSIC action.
 
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
On Saturday night, the Golden Bears claimed their first NSIC victory under head coach Matt Fletcher as they erased an eight point deficit with 7:38 to play to force overtime before dominating the extra session to come out on top. CSP won their 16th in the last 25 meetings with the Beavers to move to 17-19 in the all-time series and 12-6 on their home court.
 
Concordia's starting five carried the load in the team's biggest offensive outburst as they combined for 94 of the team's season-best 98 points on the night with all five scoring at least 13. The team's 98 points were the most since surpassing triple digits in a 107-91 win against St. Cloud State on Jan. 18, 2019. CSP connected on a season-high 53.2% (33-62) from the floor while they hit 38.5% (10-26) from deep and 81.5% (22-27) from the free throw line.
 
Elijah Ormiston and Jack Stensgard were especially effective as the duo combined for 51 points. Ormiston collected his fifth consecutive game with 20+ points and second double-double of the year with 26 points and a career-best 13 boards while Stensgard scored a career-high 25 points to go along with six assists and three boards. Ormiston knocked down 10-18 from the field while Stensgard hit 9-12 overall and 4-7 from deep. Ormiston caught fire after the break as he scored all of his 26 points in the second half and overtime while Stensgard scored 12 of his 25 in the final minute of regulation and overtime, including the first seven for CSP in the extra session.
 
Marcus Skeete filled the stat sheet with 16 points, six assists and six rebounds on 7-11 shooting while Jacob Everson had 14 points, five boards and four assists and Caden Hoffman had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
Defensively, the Golden Bears held Bemidji State to 38.6% (34-88) shooting and 34.4% (11-32) from beyond the arc in the win. The big gap in shooting efficiency helped Concordia overcome a 25-7 deficit on the offensive glass and 22-5 in second chance points on the night.
 
UMARY SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears take a 15-8 record against the Marauders into this weekend's matchup between the two schools. While Concordia has put up a solid 7-4 record on their home court against U-Mary, they have been even better in Bismarck with eight wins in 10 trips there. CSP has been especially successful in the recent history of the series with the Golden Bears claiming wins in nine of the last 11 meetings, including the last three in a row.
 
LAST MEETING VS UMARY
Back on Jan. 3, 2020, CSP caught fire in the second half to pull away for a 79-65 win over University of Mary at Gangelhoff Center.
 
While the Golden Bears connected on a solid 45.2% from the floor in the opening half, they were even better after the break as they hit 60.7% of their shots and 63.6% from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. Overall, CSP hit 52.5% (31-59) and 50.0% (11-22) from deep. CSP's defense was equally effective as they held UMary to 40.0% or below in each half to finish the game at 38.8% (19-49) and just 28.6% (6-21) from three-point range.
 
CSP led in most other categories as well with a 36-25 edge in rebounding to go along with a 20-13 edge in fast break points, a 17-12 edge in points off of turnovers, a 30-24 edge in points in the paint and a 7-2 edge in second chance points.
 
Lee Higgins was nearly perfect from the floor as he needed just 10 shots to score 20 points as he hit 8-10 shooting and 4-4 from beyond the arc in the win. He also added eight boards, four steals and two assists on the night.
 
Cody Carlson was nearly as effective from deep with a career-high five threes on seven attempts to finish with 17 points and six rebounds on the night. Jordan Coblin added 12 points, nine assists and three rebounds while Max Keefe chipped in eight points off the bench.
 
ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
The University of Mary heads into Friday's meeting with a 5-11 overall record and a 4-7 mark in NSIC play. It has been season of runs for the Marauders as they have tallied three different three-game losing streaks while winning back-to-back games twice. Most recently, UMary picked up wins in their final game of 2021 and their first game of 2022 before dropping three in a row since then.
 
As a team, UMary has been one of the more efficient teams in the league at the free throw line as they have connected on 75.1% of their attempts at the charity stripe, good for sixth in the NSIC. The Marauders have also been near the middle of the pack on the rebounding front as their 31.9 rebounds allowed per game ranks fifth and their 9.4 offensive rebounds per game rank ninth.
 
Kai Huntsberry has played a starring role for the Marauders so far this season as his 18.7 points per game rank fourth in the NSIC while his 4.4 assists per game rank fifth. He also ranks fourth in free throw percentage (85.2%), 18^th in field goal percentage (47.8%) and 21^st in made threes per game (1.7). Kam Warrens has led the way on the glass with a team-best 6.3 boards per game, good for 18^th in the league.
 
MiSU SERIES HISTORY
Concordia and Minot State have met just eight previous times with the Golden Bears going 2-6 in those meetings. After the two teams split the first two meetings, the Beavers rattled off five straight wins until CSP claimed a 71-68 win in the last meeting in 2020. The Golden Bears will be looking for their first win in Minot as they have dropped the previous four meetings there.
 
LAST MEETING VS MiSU
In the last meeting on Jan. 4, 2020, the Golden Bears completed a weekend sweep with a 71-68 win over Minot State at Gangelhoff Center.
 
For the second time in as many days, the Golden Bears put together a big second half to come out on top. CSP connected on an efficient 64.3% (18-28) from the floor and 60.0% (6-10) from beyond the arc in the second half to outscore the Beavers 45-36 after the break. Concordia finished the game at 50.0% (26-52), making it five times in seven games that the team has hit 50.0% or better from the floor. The win was CSP's second in seven all-time meetings with Minot State and their first since 2014.
 
Concordia was able to overcome deficits of 21-3 in points off of turnovers and 16-9 in second chance points as they utilized a 37-31 edge on the glass as well as a 16-5 edge in fast break points and an 8-5 edge in threes made.
 
Lee Higgins continued to produce at a high level with his second consecutive 20+ point effort while Jordan Coblin added a big night of his own. Higgins followed up an incredibly efficient performance in which he hit 8-10 from the floor by hitting 9-11 and 3-4 from deep to finish with 21 points, six boards and a pair of steals. Coblin led all players in the game with 26 points on 8-14 from the floor and 4-8 from three-point range while also adding eight rebounds and four assists.
 
While Higgins and Coblin combined for 47 of the team's 71 points on the night, Concordia had all eight players score in the game, including nine points from Carlos Barela and five points and five boards from Perion Little off the bench.
 
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Minot State has ranked near the top of the NSIC North throughout the season as they hold a record of 10-4 overall and 4-4 in league play so far this year. MiSU went a perfect 6-0 in non-conference while also winning two out of their first three NSIC contests. Since then, they have dropped three of their last five before having their last four games canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
The Beavers have registered one of the top offenses in the league as their 52.4% field goal percentage as a team ranks second and their 85.1 points per game ranks third. Minot State has also managed an impressive scoring differential as they have outscored their opponents by an average of 10.9 points per game, also third-best in the league. They have been especially good from beyond the arc as their 42.1% three-point percentage is a full 3.7% better than any other team in the league while their 8.9 threes made per game rank third. MiSU also leads the league in assists per game (16.93) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53).
 
It's been a balanced attack for Minot State with six different players averaging 9.1 or more points per game, including four averaging double figures. Melvin Newbern paces the squad with 15.4 points, good for 18^th in the league, to go along with 9.6 rebounds per game, good for third. Newbern's 7.2 defensive rebounds per game top the NSIC. Kody Dwyer, who averages 12.7 points per game, tops the league by a wide margin with a 73.5% field goal percentage, while Max Cody ranks first, also by a wide margin, with 7.8 assists per game.
 
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.
 
Elijah Ormiston recent surge has moved him to 14th in the league in points per game at 16.2 while he also sits in eighth in field goal percentage at 54.3%, 10th in rebounds per game at 7.1 and 20th in free throw percentage at 67.6%. Marcus Skeete has been a versatile player for CSP as he ranks 12th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (50.3%), 12th in assist per game (3.4), 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) and 19th in rebounds per game (6.3). Jack Stensgard ranks 19th in assists per game (3.1), 17^th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 24th in blocks per game (0.6) while Caden Hoffman ranks 25 with 2.5 assists per game.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have defended the arc well as their 6.3 threes allowed per game is the second fewest in the conference while their 8.0 made threes per game rank seventh. CSP also ranks fifth in assists per game at 14.50 and ninth in blocks per game at 2.78.