ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (1-1) continues non-conference play this week as they travel to Minnesota Crookston (2-0) on Wednesday night before returning home to host Northern Michigan (2-0) on Saturday afternoon in their home opener at Gangelhoff Center.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In the season's opening weekend at the MIAA/NSIC Conference Challenge, the Golden Bears saw a pair of contests go down to the wire as they fell to Newman 85-83 before defeating Rogers State 86-84.
 
On Saturday, the Golden Bears led by as many as a dozen in the second half before a late surge put the hosts on top in their home opener. Senior Jordan Horn put CSP back in front at 83-82 with nine seconds to go, but Stevie Strong followed with an old fashioned three-point play to give the Jets a two-point victory.
 
Junior Marcus Skeete was highly efficient as Concordia's top scorer in the contest as he hit 9-12 from the floor and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line to finish with 27 points. His total was the second highest of his career as he also added six boards and a pair of assists. Horn had a strong Golden Bear debut as he totaled 17 points on 6-14 shooting and 5-11 from deep while pulling down seven boards on the night.
 
On Sunday, CSP bounced back to claim an 86-84 win over Rogers State. In what was a closely contested game throughout, it proved to be a timely 10-0 run late in the second half that put the Golden Bears over the top.
 
Jordan Horn was crucial in the second half surge as he scored 19 of his game-high 26 points after the break. He knocked down 8-16 from the field, 6-11 from deep and 4-4 from the line while adding three boards in the win. Antwan Kimmons also eclipsed the 20-point mark with 20 points on 6-11 shooting and 7-8 from the free throw line while adding seven rebounds and six assists. Japannah Kellogg gave CSP three in double figures with 12 points on a near perfect 5-6 shooting.
 
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears head into Wednesday's meeting with a 26-9 record all-time against the Golden Eagles. Concordia's best stretch against UMC came from 2005-2016 as they won 15 of 16 meetings during that span. Since then, Minnesota Crookston has turned the tide a bit with five wins in the past nine meetings. CSP has put up similar records at home and on the road as they have gone 13-3 against the Golden Eagles at home and 13-5 in Crookston.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Back on Jan. 14 in NSIC action, CSP scored 51 points in the second half to pull away for an 84-68 win at Minnesota Crookston.
 
For the night, the Golden Bears were the far more efficient offensive unit as they finished at 50.0% (30-60) shooting and 45.8% (11-24) from beyond the arc while holding UMC to 41.4% (24-58) and 25.0% (6-23), respectively. CSP added a 38-28 edge in the rebounding column, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive glass, in the win. The Golden Bears added a 14-10 advantage in fastbreak points and a 17-13 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Concordia's leading duo once again paced the squad as they combined for 41 points and 22 rebounds as both registered double-doubles in the win. Antwan Kimmons led the way offensively with 21 points on 6-9 shooting and 8-9 from the line to go along with 10 boards while Marcus Skeete led the was on the glass with 12 rebounds as well as 20 points as he hit 7-13 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from deep. Kimmons made it five in a row with 20+ points while Skeete registered his third double-double on the year.
 
NORTHERN MICHIGAN SERIES HISTORY
In two previous meetings with NMU, the Golden Bears have gone 0-2 in a pair of evenly matched contests.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE WILDCATS
Exactly a year ago to the day, the Golden Bears pushed unbeaten Northern Michigan to the limit in a 90-86 overtime loss.
 
The Golden Bears erased an eight-point second half deficit before leading by as many as four in the final two minutes, but they were unable to close it out in regulation as a last second jumper rimmed out to force an extra session. In overtime, Antwan Kimmons scored all 12 points for CSP as Concordia led as late as 84-83 with 34 seconds to go, but the Wildcats scored seven points in the final 24 seconds to seal the win.
 
Kimmons finished with a game-high and career-high 35 points on an efficient 14-25 shooting and 6-8 from the free throw line to go along with four steals, three assists and two boards. His 35 point outburst was the most by a CSP player since Isaiah McKay scored 26 against Arkansas Tech on Nov. 11, 2018.