ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (3-11, 1-7 NSIC) will look get off to a strong start in 2023 as they host Minnesota Duluth (10-4, 6-2 NSIC) on Friday and St. Cloud State (5-8, 2-6 NSIC) on Saturday at Gangelhoff Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Back on New Year's Eve, CSP was in comeback mode for much of the afternoon as they came up just short in a 79-74 loss to Minnesota State.
 
After the Mavericks ran out to a 27-6 lead six and a half minutes into the contest, the Golden Bears outscored MSU 70-52 over the final 33:39 as they nearly erased the 21-point deficit.
 
It was a career night for Emad Elniel as he led all players with 29 points and 11 boards in 29:07 off the bench. The sophomore flew past his previous career-bests of nine points and five rebounds set back on Dec. 10 in the win over Augustana as he knocked down 9-17 from the floor and a red-hot 7-10 from beyond the arc on the night. His seven made threes were tied for fifth in DII-era history at CSP and the most since Hayden Baughman hit seven back on Nov. 23, 2018. Antwan Kimmons added a full stat line of his own with 22 points, six assists and five rebounds while hitting 6-14 from the floor and 9-12 from the free throw line.
 
Concordia turned things around efficiency-wise after the break as they connected on 46.2% (12-26) from the field, including a fiery 72.7% (8-11) from deep, to finish the night at 39.3% (24-61) and 41.7% (10-24), respectively.
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY
Heading into Friday's matchup, the Golden Bears hold a record of 13-19 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 22 and nine of the last 16 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 6-11 in Duluth.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE BULLDOGS
Nearly one year ago to the day on Jan. 8, 2022, the Golden Bears saw Minnesota Duluth pull away for a 106-71 win at Romano Gym.
 
While both teams shot an identical 40.0% from beyond the arc, with Concordia going 10-25 and UMD going 8-20, it was inside the arc that proved to be the difference. The Bulldogs outscored the Golden Bears 54-32 in the paint, hitting 60.0% (33-55) of their two-point attempts while Concordia shot 38.6% (17-44).
 
Sunday John reached double digits for the third time on the season as he collected 10 points, three rebounds and two steals while hitting 4-8 from the floor and 2-4 from three-point range.
 
Concordia's top five leading scorers on the night were all freshmen as Jacob Everson followed with seven points and Ian Sluice had six points, three boards and two assists.
 
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears will meet the Huskies for the 32nd time in series history this weekend as CSP has gone 7-24 in the previous 31 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 10 of the last 12 with Concordia's lone win coming on Jan. 3, 2015 in St. Paul. In 15 meetings in St. Paul, CSP has gone 5-10.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE HUSKIES
Back on Jan. 10, 2022, Concordia dropped a fast-paced contest by a score of 93-80 at St. Cloud State in non-conference play.
 
Marcus Skeete narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Reid Patterson had 14 points and Ian Sluice had 13. Skeete connected on 6-12 from the floor while Patterson hit 4-10 from deep and Sluice hit 3-7 from beyond the arc.
 
Concordia took advantage of their 11 offensive rebounds on the night, turning them into 16 points, while SCSU claimed just four second chance points. CSP also won the battle in the paint with a 40-38 edge down low while their bench outscored the Huskies' reserves 16-9.
 
STAT LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears have a few players that rank near the top of the league in several different categories.
 
Junior guard Antwan Kimmons has been a big-time contributor in his first season in navy and gold as he ranks fifth the league and 38th in the nation in scoring with 19.9 points per game. His 98 free throw attempts and 73 made free throws both lead the NSIC and sit in sixth and seventh in the nation, respectively. His 3.9 assists per game rank seventh and his 51.9% field goal percentage rank eighth in the conference.
 
Sophomore Marcus Skeete has added 4.8 defensive rebounds per game and 80 total rebounds, good for 13^th and 14th in the NSIC, respectively, while his 75.5% free throw percentage ranks 16th in the league. His 13.8 points per game also rank 22nd in the conference.
 
As a team, CSP ranks in the top half of the league in several areas as their 13.21 turnovers forced per game and 12.9 free throws made per game both rank sixth. Their 8.6 threes made per game and 47.2% field goal percentage also rank eighth.