ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears men's basketball team (1-13, 0-8 NSIC) has announced that Friday night's NSIC matchup with St. Cloud State (7-6, 4-3 NSIC) has been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. CSP will now face #5 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday (14-0, 7-0 NSIC) in NSIC action before taking on the Huskies on Monday in non-conference play. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Duluth and 6 p.m. on Monday in St. Cloud.
 
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
The Golden Bears gave Minnesota State all they could handle on Sunday afternoon in a back and forth contest, but fell short in a 92-82 loss.
 
The Golden Bears led by as many as nine in a game that featured five ties and 12 lead changes, but they were unable to turn it into a big road win to start 2022.
 
CSP took advantage of extra opportunities on the offensive end as they outpaced MSU 14-9 in second chance points on the day. Both teams were efficient from the floor as Concordia shot 49.2% (32-65) overall and 42.9% (12-28) from deep while hitting all six of their free throw attempts. On the other side, Minnesota State hit 53.2% (33-62) from the floor, including 60.0% (12-20) from beyond the arc in the game.
 
Freshman Elijah Ormiston picked up where he left off in 2021 with his third game with 20+ points in the past six games, leading the way with 27 points and nine rebounds in 12-19 from the floor. He was one of four CSP starters to reach double figures in the contest.
 
Senior Jack Stensgard put up an efficient line of his own with 16 points on 6-10 shooting and 4-7 from three-point range to go along with three assists. Jacob Everson and Reid Patterson each added 10 points as Everson hit 4-7 with three assists while Patterson connected on 4-8 from the floor. George Scharlau fell a point shy of double figures as he hit 3-4 from deep to finish with nine points.
 
UMD SERIES HISTORY
Heading into Saturday's matchup, the Golden Bears hold a record of 13-18 against the Bulldogs. The momentum has been shifted in CSP's favor in the past few years as they have won 13 of the last 21 and nine of the last 15 in the series. Concordia has been nearly even both at home and on the road in the series as they have gone 7-8 on their home court and 6-10 in Duluth.
 
LAST MEETING VS UMD
Back on Nov. 19, CSP dropped a fast paced contest to Minnesota Duluth by a score of 99-76 at Gangelhoff Center in non-conference play.
 
The Bulldogs controlled the game in the paint as they connected on 70.0% (35-50) inside the arc to claim a 66-38 edge in points in the paint. Overall, UMD shot 60.3% (41-68) from the floor in the win.
 
On the other side, CSP was held to 39.7% (24-63) shooting and 26.7% (4-15) from three-point range. The Golden Bears, however, held a significant edge at the free throw line as they hit 22-27 (81.5%) compared to 11-19 (57.9%) for the Bulldogs. Concordia also tallied a massive 39-8 advantage in bench scoring.
 
Sunday John played a major role in that bench advantage as he hit 5-6 from the floor and 7-7 from the charity stripe to lead the team with career-best 18 points. He added six boards in his 18 minutes of action.
 
John was one of four Golden Bears in double figures in scoring as he was joined by Marcus Skeete, Elijah Ormiston and Jack Stensgard. Skeete connected on six of his 10 attempts to finish with 15 points and five rebounds while Ormiston put up 12 points on 5-9 shooting to go along with a team-best eight boards. Stensgard tacked on 10 points and five assists on the night.
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth has gotten off to a perfect start in 2021-22 as they have won all 14 games they have played, including all seven conference matchups. With 10 of those 14 wins coming by double figures, UMD faced their toughest test a few days ago as they fought their way to a 109-107 double overtime win over #23 Ferris State on the road in non-conference action.
 
UMD has been among the best both offensively and defensively in the NSIC as they lead the league with 87.8 points per game and rank second with 68.5 points per game allowed. Their +19.3 scoring margin is a full 7.1 points higher than the next highest in the conference. The Bulldogs lead the way in field goal percentage (52.5%) and field goal percentage defense (40.8%) while also ranking first in three-point defense (29.9%), second in three-point percentage (38.6%) and second in rebounding margin (+5.8).
 
The Bulldogs have two players in the top-eight and three in the top-20 in scoring in the NSIC as Drew Blair leads the way with 18.9 points per game, good for third, while Austin Andrews ranks eighth at 17.5 and Joshua Brown ranks 19^th at 14.2. Andrews also ranks third with 9.6 rebounds per game and third with a 62.8% field goal percentage while Blair ranks eighth with 2.4 threes made per game.
 
SCSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears will meet the Huskies for the 31st time in series history this weekend as CSP has gone 7-23 in the previous 30 meetings. Concordia's best stretch in the series came from 2010-12 as they won three of four meetings during that span. Since then, SCSU has won nine of the last 11 with Concordia's lone win coming on Jan. 3, 2015 in St. Paul. In 15 meetings in St. Cloud, CSP has gone 2-13.
 
LAST MEETING VS SCSU
Back on Jan. 31, 2021, the Golden Bears fell just short in a tight contest on Sunday afternoon as St. Cloud State claimed a 77-73 win at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Marcus Skeete was a force down low for the Golden Bears as he matched his career best with 22 points while pulling down a career-high 13 boards for his first double-double. The freshman added four assists and a pair of steals while hitting 9-14 from the floor and 2-2 from deep. He finished the weekend with 18.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals in a massive 38.0 minutes per game.
 
Caden Hoffman added a career day of his own as he knocked down 6-12 from beyond the arc while dishing out four assists. Carlos Barela chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and four assists while Keenan Jones put up eight points off the bench.
 
The Golden Bears shot 44.1% (26-59) from the field and 32.3% (10-31) from three-point range compared to 44.6% (25-56) and 35.0% (7-20), respectively for the Huskies. Missed free throws plagued both teams as CSP finished at 61.1% (11-18) and SCSU finished at 69.0% (20-29).
 
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
After getting off to a 4-5 start, including one win in their first three conference games, St. Cloud State picked up the pace to close out 2021 as they won three of four heading into the break. In all three wins, SCSU cleared 80 points, closing out the run with a big 84-80 road win at Northern State on Dec. 18. SCSU's first game of 2022, scheduled for Jan. 2 against UMD, was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
One of the highest paced teams in the league, the Huskies rank fourth in the league in points per game at 81.2 while their 79.9 points per game allowed are the most in the NSIC. They match that output with efficiency as they have connected on 49.2% from the floor, also good for fourth, while opponents are shooting 49.0%, ranking 15^th.
 
St. Cloud State has two of the top-10 scorers in the conference as Anthony Roberts ranks second with 19.9 points per game while Caleb Donaldson ranks 10^th at 16.5. Roberts also ranks fifth with 8.1 boards per game while Donaldson's 68.3% field goal percentage ranks second. Ryan Bagley has also been a key contributor as he ranks second with 2.1 steals per game and ninth with 4.0 assists per game. Roberts (first at 37.2), Donaldson (second at 37.1) and Bagley (third at 35.3) are the top three in minutes per game in the NSIC.
 
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 13th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (50.0%), 23rd in rebounds per game (5.7), 16th in assist per game (3.2) and 20th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0). Elijah Ormiston sits in 12th in field goal percentage at 50.7%, 16th in rebounds per game at 6.6 and 17^th in free throw percentage at 68.6% while Jack Stensgard ranks 19th in blocks per game (0.7) and 21st in assists per game (2.7).
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have defended the arc well as their 78 made threes allowed is the fewest in the conference while their 7.5 made threes per game rank seventh. CSP also ranks sixth in assists per game at 14.50 and eighth in blocks per game at 3.0.