ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-20, 1-14 NSIC) heads west this weekend as they travel to Sioux Falls (10-9, 6-7 NSIC) on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State (11-8, 7-7 NSIC) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
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
Over the weekend, the Golden Bears fell just short in an overtime loss to Northern State on Friday before falling to MSU Moorhead on Saturday.
 
The Golden Bear defense locked down the Wolves late in the second half, holding NSU to just two points over the final 6:29 to erase a double-digit deficit and force an extra session. CSP was unable to carry the momentum into overtime as Northern State held on for a 76-72 win.
 
The trio of Marcus Skeete, Elijah Ormiston and Jack Stensgard did the heavy lifting on the offensive end, combining for 52 of the team's 72 points in the contest. Skeete led the way with 22 points on 9-18 shooting while Ormiston added 18 points, five rebounds and four steals. Stensgard tallied his first career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 boards while he also hit 5-8 from the floor, dished out four assists and grabbed two blocks and two steals. Jacob Everson chipped in six points and nine rebounds.
 
On Saturday, CSP was unable to keep pace with MSU Moorhead as they fell 85-66. The Dragons controlled the game down low as they held a 60-32 edge in points in the paint and a 39-25 edge on the glass as CSP dropped to 13-22 in the all-time series with MSUM. MSU Moorhead added a 14-5 advantage on the offensive glass as well as a 17-6 advantage in points off turnovers, an 11-4 advantage in second chance points and a 32-16 advantage in bench scoring on the night.
 
Elijah Ormiston put together another big performance as he cleared 20+ points for the 10th time on the season and seventh time in the past 10 as he led all players with 27 points on 9-14 shooting and 8-10 from the free throw line. The freshman scored 24 of his 27 points after the break while also pulling down eight boards. Jacob Everson joined him in double figures with 13 points on 5-8 from the floor while Jack Stensgard dished out seven assists to go along with four points and three boards. George Scharlau and Marcus Skeete each had six points while Caden Hoffman had six assists.
 
USF SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Cougars are meeting for the 27th time in the all-time series this weekend as CSP enters with a 6-20 record against USF. Concordia's best stretch in the series came back in 2015-16 as they won three of four during that span, but the Cougars have won all nine meetings since then. The Golden Bears have gone 2-9 in 11 contests in Sioux Falls. Last season's two-game series between the two schools was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
LAST MEETING VS USF
In the last game before the holiday break back on Dec. 18, CSP closed out 2021 with an 80-69 loss to Sioux Falls at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears were able to work some easy looks in the second half, shooting 62.1% (18-29) from the floor to outscore the Cougars 41-34 in the final 20 minutes, with 32 of those 41 points coming in the paint, but it wasn't quite enough as CSP fell to 6-20 in the all-time series.
 
Free throw shooting and rebounding proved to be the difference as USF held a 47-30 edge on the glass, including a 15-5 edge in offensive rebounding to hold a 19-6 advantage in second chance points. At the free throw line, the Cougars connected on 22-27 (81.5%) while the Golden Bears hit just 14-28 (50.0%) on the night.
 
Jacob Everson kept CSP afloat in the opening half as he scored 16 of his game-high and career-high 21 points before the break. On the night, he hit 7-11 from the floor and 2-4 from three-point range with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action.
 
Elijah Ormiston also filled the stat sheet with 16 points, a team-best eight boards and four assists as he hit 6-12 shooting. Sunday John and Marcus Skeete gave the team four players in double figures as John hit 4-6 from the floor for 11 points while Skeete finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls enters the weekend a game above .500 overall at 10-9 while they sit a game below .500 in conference play at 6-7. After three wins in their first four games of the season, USF dropped two in a row against NSIC opponents. Since then, they have not won or lost more than two in a row. In recent weeks, USF claimed a sweep of BSU and UMC before being swept by SCSU and UMD.
 
As a team, the Cougars have been one of the top rebounding teams in the conference as their 11.1 offensive rebounds per game rank first and their +2.9 rebounding margin ranks seventh. They have also done a good job taking care of the basketball as their 9.5 turnovers per game are the fewest and their +2.26 turnover margin ranks third. They also rank fifth with a 1.31 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Matt Cartwright has carried the load offensively for Sioux Falls as his 18.9 points per game ranks fourth in the league while Jack Thompson registers in at 25^th with 13.6 points per game. Cartwright also ranks second in the league in threes made per game (3.0) and three-point percentage (38.3%) while Thompson ranks third with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and seventh with 4.1 assists per game. Chase Grinde paces the squad on the glass with 6.4 boards per game, good for 15^th in the NSIC.
 
SMSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter the weekend's contests with a record of 13-31 against Southwest Minnesota State. After winning just seven of the first 32 meetings in the all-time series, CSP has improved over recent years with six wins in the past 13 dating back to 2015, including wins in three of the past four contests. In 22 previous meetings in Marshall, Concordia has gone 4-18. Last season's weekend series between the two schools was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
LAST MEETING VS SMSU
In the first meeting of the season back on Dec. 17, the Golden Bears dropped a shootout to Southwest Minnesota State in an 83-70 loss at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears set new season highs in both threes made and three-point field goal percentage as they knocked down 13-26 from deep for a 50.0% mark. Their 13 made threes were the most since knocking down 16 in a dramatic double-overtime loss to Minnesota Duluth in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament back on Feb. 26, 2020. Overall from the floor, CSP knocked down 45.6% (26-57) for the game, including a mark of 48.1% (13-27) in the second half.
 
The freshman trio of Jacob Everson, Reid Patterson and Ian Sluice combined for 11 of the team's 13 threes as Everson and Patterson had four each and Sluice had three. Everson missed just one of his six shots from the floor and finished 4-4 from deep to finish with 14 points while Patterson hit 4-6 to match his team-leading 14 points. Sluice knocked down 5-9 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc to finish a point shy with 13.
 
Elijah Ormiston tacked on eight points and a team-best eight boards while Sunday John chipped in seven points, including a pair of fast break dunks.
 
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs have claimed 11 wins in 19 contests this season, splitting their 14 conference matches with seven wins and seven losses. Southwest Minnesota State got off to a fast start with five straight wins after a season-opening loss, but they dropped three of the next four. Since then, SMSU has gone 5-4 with no more than two wins or two losses in a row.
 
Southwest Minnesota State ranks near the top of the league with the fourth-fewest points allowed at 70.5 while their 71.9 points per game rank 12^th. Their 42.6% opponent field goal percentage also ranks fourth while their 77.1% free throw percentage ranks second. One of the top rebounding teams in the league, SMSU ranks third in rebounds per game (36.9) and fifth in rebounding margin (4.1). They also rank fifth in steals with 6.53 per game.
 
Kenny Byers and Jake Phipps have been the top two scorers with Byers averaging 14.8 points per game, good for 20^th in the NSIC, and Phipps averaging 13.8, good for 23^rd. Phipps paces the squad with 6.8 boards per game, ranking 13^th, and 1.3 blocks per game, ranking third, while Byers has pulled down 5.7 per game, good for 21^st. Cliff McCray's 4.0 assists per game rank ninth while his 1.8 steals per game rank second.
 
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's scoring surge in NSIC play has moved him to 10th in the league in points per game at 16.6 while he also sits in sixth in field goal percentage at 54.4%, 11th in rebounds per game at 6.8 and 16th in free throw percentage at 68.2%. He's been even better in league play as his 18.4 points per game in conference action ranks fifth and his 7.1 boards per game rank 10^th.
 
Marcus Skeete has been a versatile player for CSP as he ranks 12th in field goal percentage, 13th in assists per game (3.4), 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1) and 18th in rebounds per game (6.1). Jack Stensgard ranks 17th in assists per game (3.2), 16th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 22nd in blocks per game (0.6) while Caden Hoffman ranks 24th with 2.7 assists per game.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears have defended the arc well as their 6.1 threes allowed per game are the second fewest in the conference while their 178 made threes per game rank fourth. CSP also ranks fourth in assists per game at 14.45 and ninth in blocks per game at 2.68.