ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-16, 6-12 NSIC) takes their four-game winning streak on the road this weekend as they take on Augustana (12-12, 8-10 NSIC) on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. and Wayne State (16-8, 11-7 NSIC) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Following the team's four-game winning streak, the Golden Bears moved to within two games of sixth in the NSIC South Division standings and a spot in the NSIC Tournament. CSP will have the opportunity to face both teams currently tied for sixth in the final two weekends of the season with matchups against Augie on Friday and Winona State in the final regular season contest on Feb. 18.
 
The 12-team NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place February 25-28 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The top two seeds in each division will receive a first-round bye. First round games will be played on campus on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Concordia continued their winning ways at Gangelhoff Center as they grabbed a pair of one-possession victories with a 69-67 win over Sioux Falls on Friday and a 63-60 win over SMSU on Saturday.
 
The Golden Bears' four consecutive wins are their most since opening the 2018-19 campaign with four in a row, matching their highest total since closing out the 2015-16 regular season with five straight wins.
 
On Friday, the Golden Bears stifled the Cougars, holding them to 42.0% (21-50) from the floor, as they withstood a late USF surge with Sean Mathieu knocking down a go-ahead three with 1:41 left to secure the win.
 
On Saturday, trailing 60-57 with 1:14 left on the clock, Antwan Kimmons knocked down a pair of free throws to cut it to one before Marcus Skeete drove in for a go-ahead layup with 28 seconds remaining. Kimmons added two more free throws with 4.3 seconds to go before the Golden Bears forced an off target contested jumper at the horn to secure the win.
 
AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Vikings will be meeting for the 35th time in the all-time series as Augustana holds a 28-6 edge in the previous 34 meetings. Augie has been especially dominant in the recent history of the series as they had won 21 in a row over CSP prior to the first meeting of the year. Concordia has compiled a 5-12 record on their home court while picking up just one win in 16 trips to Augustana.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE VIKINGS
In the first meeting of the year on Dec. 10 at Gangelhoff Center, Antwan Kimmons beat the buzzer with an off-balanced jumper to seal a 63-61 victory for Concordia.
 
Trailing 61-58 with 1:37 to play, Marcus Skeete buried a clutch three to tie the game to set up a dramatic finish. After forcing a tough shot for Augie's Jadan Graves with eight seconds to play, Jacob Everson pulled down a crucial board before Kimmons streaked down the court and knocked down a double-clutch fadeaway jumper right in front of the CSP bench to cue the hysteria.
 
Kimmons matched Cal Greene with a team-leading 12 points on the night as Kimmons hit 5-9 from the floor while Greene was a perfect 4-4 shooting and 3-3 from the free throw line. Kimmons added five assists and five rebounds while Greene chipped in a pair of boards and a pair of steals in the win.
 
WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
Heading into the weekend, the Golden Bears sit at 19-29 in the all-time series with the Wildcats. Since a stretch from 2006-2011 that saw Concordia win nine of 10 meetings, Wayne State has turned the momentum in their favor with 19 wins in the last 24 and 12 of 13. Concordia has found much more success on their home court as they have gone 12-15 in St. Paul and 7-15 in Wayne in the series.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE WILDCATS
Back on Dec. 9, the Golden Bears battled back to take a lead early in the second half, but they were unable to hang on in a tightly contested loss as they fell to Wayne State 77-73 at Gangelhoff Center.
 
Concordia proved to be the more efficient of the two teams on the night as they connected on 48.3% (29-60) from the floor while holding WSC to 43.9% (25-57). The Golden Bears added a 40-30 edge in points in the paint while their bench outscored Wayne State's bench 21-7 in the contest. The decisive edge for the Wildcats came at the free throw line as they hit 19-23 (82.6%) compared to 6-11 (54.5%) for CSP. The visitors added a 24-12 advantage in points off turnovers in the win.
 
Antwan Kimmons finished with a game-best 26 points on 11-23 shooting to go along with five assists and four boards. Kimmons cleared 25 points for the fifth time on the season as he bumped his average to 22.8 points per game.
 
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 third in the league and 25th in the nation in scoring with 20.7 points per game. His 137 made free throws and 176 free throw attempts both lead the NSIC and both sit fourth in the nation. His 4.0 assists per game rank eighth and his 52.7% field goal percentage ranks sixth in the conference. Kimmons' 20.7 points per game sit 1.4 ahead of Terez VanPelt (19.3 in 2012-13) for most in single-season program history with more than 10 games played.
 
Sophomore Marcus Skeete has added 4.7 defensive rebounds per game and 140 total rebounds, good for 11th and 12th in the NSIC, respectively.
 
As a team, CSP ranks in the top half of the league in several areas as their 13.54 turnovers forced per game leading the league, their 8.8 threes made per game rank fifth and their 6.1 steals per game rank sixth. Their 12.4 free throws made per game and 44.7% field goal percentage also rank eighth.