ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-10, 3-9 NSIC) returns home to host Bemidji State (10-8, 6-6 NSIC) on Friday and Minnesota Crookston (5-13, 2-10 NSIC) on Saturday in NSIC action.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears dropped a pair of closely contested road games as they fell to Northern State 94-89 in overtime on Friday and 79-72 at #5 MSU Moorhead on Saturday.
 
On Friday, the Golden Bears led the contest for nearly two-thirds of the play, and trailed for less than 20 percent in a contest that featured a large lead of just seven points, a 65-58 CSP advantage with 8:21 to play in the contest. Northern State's largest margin was the final score, six points as the event featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes. CSP's secured 28 points on perfect 13-13 shooting from junior forward Japannah Kellogg. His 13-for-13 performance tops CSP's Division II-era and recorded history for most made field goals without a miss, a feat that had been achieved with a minimum of eight on three occasions, with Isaiah Thomas holding the prior record at 9-9 against Judson University (Ill.) on December 18, 2009.
 
On Saturday, CSP remained within four with under three minutes to play, but they couldn't quite pull off the upset as MSUM picked up their 16th win in 20 meetings in Moorhead and 24th win in 37 meetings overall in the series. Concordia's bench brigade provided a spark on the night as they outscored MSU Moorhead's reserves 30-11 in the contest, led by 13 points from John Grigsby and 12 from Reid Patterson. Grigsby hit 5-8 from the floor and 3-5 from beyond the arc while Patterson was a perfect 5-5 shooting and 2-2 from the line to go along with three boards.
 
BSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter the weekend with a nearly even record against the Beavers as CSP has gone 18-20 in the previous 38 meetings. Concordia dominated the series from 2005-16 with 16 wins in 20 meetings during that span, but Bemidji State has recovered since then with six wins in the past eight contests. The home team has held a significant advantage in the series with CSP going 13-6 in St. Paul and BSU going 14-5 in Bemidji.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE BEAVERS
In last season's meeting on Jan. 13, 2023, the Golden Bears could not dig themselves out of an early hole as they fell 88-71 at Bemidji State.
 
After falling behind the Beavers 24-6 midway through the first quarter, the Golden Bears outscored BSU 65-64 over the final 30 minutes as the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
 
Junior guard Antwan Kimmons made it four straight games with 20+ points as he led all players with 24 points on 8-13 shooting and 8-9 from the free throw line. He added six boards and three assists on the night.
 
Marcus Skeete and John Grigsby joined Kimmons in double figures as Skeete added 18 points and six rebounds while Grigsby had 11 points on 3-6 from beyond the arc off the bench. Sean Mathieu added eight points as CSP held a 22-17 edge in bench scoring.
 
UMC SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears head into the weekend with a 27-9 record all-time against the Golden Eagles. Concordia's best stretch against UMC came from 2005-16 as they won 15 of 16 meetings during that span. After UMC grabbed three wins in the next four, CSP has won four of the last six. Concordia has been nearly equally successful at home and on the road as they have gone 13-3 in St. Paul and 14-5 in Crookston.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
In the first meeting of the season back on Nov. 15 in non-conference play, CSP claimed an 87-76 win at Minnesota Crookston.
 
CSP led for nearly 35 minutes on the night as both teams put up efficient efforts from the floor. Concordia finished a solid 50.0% (32-64) from the floor and 40.9% (9-22) from beyond the arc while UMC hit 51.7% (30-58) overall and 46.7% (7-15) from deep. The Golden Bears won the transition battle as they tallied 15 points on the break while holding UMC to just two. CSP also finished with a 38-31 advantage on the glass, including a 10-6 edge in offensive rebounds, in the win.
 
Junior Marcus Skeete collected his fifth career 20-10 performance as he led the team with 27 points, 12 boards, four assists and three steals in a full stat line. He connected on 11-18 from the floor and 4-5 from the line in the win.
 
Skeete was one of four starters in double figures as the starting five combined for 74 of the team's 86 points on the night. Jordan Horn put up 19 points, three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while Antwan Kimmons added 13 points and five boards in the game. Japannah Kellogg was nearly perfect from the field as he knocked down for of his six shots to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds in the win.
 
STAT LEADERS
So far this season, the Golden Bears rank highly in several statistical categories.
 
As a team, CSP ranks third in the NSIC and 48th in the nation with 9.4 made threes per game while they rank second and 49th, respectively, in free throws made with 16.4 per game. Concordia also ranks second in the league and 60th in the country with 81.3 points per night as well as second in the conference and eighth in the nation with 29.4 defensive rebounds per game.
 
Individually, Marcus Skeete's 5.4 defensive rebounds per game are good for sixth in the league and his 85.2% free throw percentage ranks fifth. The junior also sits in fifth in field goal percentage (52.2%) and 12th in rebounds per game (6.6). Japannah Kellogg ranks third with 1.22 blocks per game and eighth with 2.33 offensive rebounds per game.
 
CHASING HISTORY
Junior Marcus Skeete has been a key offensive contributor throughout his four seasons with the Golden Bears as he has tallied 1,076 points over 84 career games, becoming the 19th member of the 1,000 point club at CSP on Dec. 16 at Minnesota State and first since Bryndan Matthews in 2019. The Aurora, Ill. native also sits 12 rebounds shy of 500 and has 214 assists in his career. Only three players have reached the 1,000/500/200 club in navy and gold, with Skeete looking to join Jeff Chamberlain, Cole Olstad and Matthews in that exclusive group.