ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-18, 1-12 NSIC) returns to Gangelhoff Center this weekend as Northern State (13-9, 7-7 NSIC) and MSU Moorhead (10-9, 5-5 NSIC) come to town. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday against the Wolves and 5:30 on Saturday against the Dragons.
 
MASK POLICY
In accordance with the City of St. Paul mask requirement for licensed businesses, mask usage is required in all public spaces on campus regardless of vaccination status.
 
PACK THE GC NIGHT
Friday night marks Pack the GC Night as CSP hosts Northern State. The first 50 students get a CSP Bears t-shirt and at halftime of the men's game, a randomly selected student has a chance to win $10,000 by hitting a lay-up, free throw, three-pointer, and half-court shot in 30 seconds.
 
ALUMNI DAY
CSP basketball alumni are invited to attend Saturday's contest with MSU Moorhead. RSVP here by Friday at 12pm to receive a free ticket. Alumni and their guests are welcome to join the alumni social in the Hall of Fame Room upstairs at Gangelhoff Center from approximately 4-6 p.m. with light appetizers provided.
 
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. At both the men's and women's halftimes on Saturday, there will be a brief presentation about the initiative.
 
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, the Golden Bears saw UMary claim a last second victory on Friday before falling to Minot State on Saturday.
 
On Friday night, CSP was looking for back-to-back league victories on Friday night at the McDowell Activity Center, but came up short in the closing seconds of a 68-66 loss.
 
Elijah Ormiston had another big night, scoring 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the floor while collecting six rebounds. He's collected 20 or more points in six straight games, eight of the last 11 and nine times overall this year.
 
The Golden Bears led for nearly three quarters of the contest and only trailed for 16 percent of the game, leading by as many as 14 points in the first half and carried an 8-point lead with under 10 minutes to play.
 
On Saturday, Concordia ran into a hot-shooting Minot State in a 98-54 loss.
 
The Beavers buried 59.1% (39-66) of their shots on the night, including 59 points on a 61.8% (21-34) shooting after the break. In addition to their efficient shooting, MiSU used a 60-14 edge in points in the paint as well as a 25-6 edge in points off turnovers in the win.
 
Marcus Skeete led the way for the Golden Bears on the night as he matched Minot State's Melvin Newbern with a game-high 20 points on 5-8 shooting, 3-4 from deep and 7-8 from the free throw line. Skeete chipped in eight boards, three steals and two assists in his 27 minutes of work.
 
NSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold a 7-32 record in the all-time series against the Wolves, with NSU grabbing six wins in a row. Concordia has found wins hard to come by in Aberdeen as they have claimed just one win in 22 trips to Northern State, but they have had much more success in St. Paul, with six wins in 16 meetings on their home court. CSP's last win in the series came in an 84-76 victory back on Jan. 30, 2016.
 
LAST MEETING VS NSU
Back on Jan. 31, 2020, CSP fell behind early in an 88-60 loss at Northern State.
 
While the Golden Bears managed a significant 38-20 edge in bench scoring, NSU took advantage of an 18-9 edge in forced turnovers for a 19-6 edge in points off of those turnovers. Northern State also held a 43-32 advantage in rebounding while connected of 47.0% (31-66) from the floor and 36.7% (11-30) from deep while holding CSP to 39.0% (23-59) shooting and 29.6% (8-27) from beyond the arc.
 
Lee Higgins provided a major bright spot for the Golden Bears as he hit 6-8 from the floor and 2-3 from deep for a team-best 16 points in 22 minutes. Cody Carlson also reached double figures with 10 points and three assists in 20 minutes of action.
 
Carlos Barela grabbed a season-best 10 boards off the bench while George Scharlau tacked on seven points and five rebounds on the night. Mac Wieczorek added six points on 2-4 from three-point range in just 13 minutes off the bench.
 
ABOUT THE WOLVES
Northern State heads into Friday with a 13-9 record overall with an even 7-7 mark in league play. After dropping two of their first three to start the season, NSU rattled off eight wins in their next 10 games to move to 9-4 on the year. The Wolves collected just one win in their next five before getting back on track with three wins in their last four.
 
As a team, NSU has held their opponents to 70.6 points per game, good for fifth in the NSIC, while their 74.1 points per game rank eighth. The Wolves have relied heavily on perimeter shooting as their 9.6 made threes per game lead the league. They have also been efficient at the charity stripe as their 76.6% free throw percentage ranks fourth and their 275 made free throws rank second. They also rank fifth in steals per game (6.55) and sixth in assists per game (14.09).
 
The Wolves have three players ranked inside the top-25 in scoring as Sam Masten sits in 17^th (15.7), Jordan Belka sits in 20^th (14.9) and Jacksen Moni sits in 24^th (14.4). Belka also ranks 11^th in rebounding with 6.9 per game while Cole Bergan leads the team with 4.0 assists per game, good for ninth in the NSIC. Augustine Reede paces the conference with a 43.4% three-point percentage while his 2.5 threes made per game ranks fourth.
 
MSUM SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and the Dragons are set to meet for the 35^th time in the all-time series, with CSP going 13-21 in the previous meetings. Both teams have found more success on their home courts as the Golden Bears have gone 9-7 in St. Paul and 4-14 in Moorhead. The two teams have split the last six meetings, with Concordia claiming wins in two of the last three at home.
 
LAST MEETING VS MSUM
On Feb. 1, 2020, the Golden Bears saw MSU Moorhead put together a big second half to claim an 85-72 win.
 
The Golden Bears held a 36-34 lead at the break, but the Dragons put up 51 points after the break to pull away for the comfortable victory.
 
While both teams connected on nearly identical percentages from the floor with CSP hitting 46.7% (28-60) and MSUM hitting 47.5% (29-61), free throw shooting and rebounding played a major role in the Dragons' success. MSU Moorhead hit 76.9% (20-26) from the line compared to 75.0% (6-8) for Concordia while also turning a 38-29 rebounding edge into a 13-3 edge in second chance points. The Dragons also claimed a 27-16 advantage in bench scoring as well as a 9-2 advantage in fast break points and a 36-30 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Concordia's offense ran through their big men as Max Keefe and Cody Carlson combined for 34 of the team's 72 points in the game. Keefe hit an efficient 6-10 from the floor and 2-3 from deep to finish with 17 points to go along with a pair of boards and a pair of assists while Carlson matched that scoring total with 17 points on 8-15 shooting as well as seven rebounds.
 
Joining the pair in double figures was Perion Little. Little finished with 11 points on 4-9 shooting and 3-6 from three-point range with six rebounds and two blocks. Noah Kannegiesser nearly reached that total in just 13 minutes off the bench as he hit 3-5 from beyond the arc to contribute nine points. Lee Higgins added eight points, five assists, three boards and two steals.
 
ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead has hovered around the .500 mark for much of the season as they enter the weekend with a 10-9 record and a 5-5 record in NSIC action. MSUM's best stretch of the year came from Nov. 16-26 as they won four games in an 11-day span. After dropping their next three in a row, they followed it up with three straight wins. After back-to-back weekends canceled due to COVID-19 protocols, the Dragons returned to action with a weekend split at home against Winona State and Upper Iowa.
 
MSUM ranks fifth in the NSIC in both points per game (79.1) and scoring margin (+6.3) so far this season while their 36.8% three-point percentage ranks fourth. The Dragons have aided their efforts with 37.1 rebounds per game, good for third in the league, and 10.3 offensive rebounds, good for fourth, while they also rank fourth in blocks per game (3.37) and steals per game (6.58).
 
Despite the high-flying offense, no Dragons ranks inside the top-25 in scoring in the NSIC. Instead, MSUM utilizes a balanced attack with three players averaging double figures and nine players averaging at least 5.1 points per game. Gavin Baumgartner leads the way with 12.6 points per game while Lorenzo McGhee has chipped in 11.1 and Bryce Irsfeld has added 10.2. Dane Zimmer has paced the squad on the glass as his 7.5 boards per game rank seventh in the NSIC while Jesse Bergh's 0.8 blocks per game rank eighth.
 
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 15th in the league in points per game at 16.1 while he also sits in sixth in field goal percentage at 55.0%, 12th in rebounds per game at 6.9 and 17th in free throw percentage at 67.6%. Marcus Skeete has been a versatile player for CSP as he ranks 11th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (50.3%), 12th in assist per game (3.5), 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1) and 18th in rebounds per game (6.3). Jack Stensgard ranks 21st in assists per game while Caden Hoffman ranks 25th with 2.6 assists per game.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have defended the arc well as their 6.2 threes allowed per game is the second fewest in the conference and their 35.0% opponent three-point percentage ranks fifth while their 8.0 made threes per game rank sixth. CSP also ranks fourth in assists per game at 14.40 and 10th in blocks per game at 2.70.