ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-0) is set for a pair of non-conference matchups this week, heading to St. Cloud, Minn. to take on St. Cloud State (2-2) on Thursday evening before hosting Michigan Tech (2-0) at the Gangelhoff Center on Sunday afternoon.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC men's basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and 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
The Golden Bears opened the 2024-25 campaign on a hot streak last weekend at the NSIC/MIAA Challenge in Marshall, Minn., topping Nebraska Kearney 95-93 in overtime on Friday and taking down #16 Fort Hays State 82-68 on Saturday to start the season 2-0.

On Friday, the Golden Bears led by six at the half before the Lopers came back in the second half to tie the game at 82 and send it to overtime. The extra five minutes contained five lead changes, but it was five straight free throws from senior guard Antwan Kimmons within the final 1:45 of play that put the Bears up for good at 94-91 on the way to the 95-93 win. For the game, Concordia connected on 35 of its 65 attempts (53.8%) from the floor while Nebraska Kearney was 35-84 (41.7%). The Golden Bears outscored the Lopers 17-8 on second chance opportunities and held a 48-32 advantage in the painted area.

Kimmons shined in his return to action after suffering injuries last season, logging a game-high 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field. The senior was also active in other parts of the game, adding five assists and four rebounds. Senior swingman Marcus Skeete also got his season off to a stellar start, scoring 21 points on efficient shooting as he hit six of his nine attempts from the field and was 4-5 from beyond the arc. He also led the team in rebounding with 15 boards to finish with a double-double.

Sophomore guard Ben Kopetzki put together a strong outing for Concordia, scoring 19 points on 7-15 shooting and adding five rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and a steal. Cade Meyer was the final Golden Bear in double figures with 12 points on 6-7 shooting, also pulling down six rebounds. 

On Saturday, the opening half contained seven lead changes early on, but CSP held the advantage for more than 12 minutes in the half and led by as many as nine before taking a 44-40 lead into halftime. The Golden Bears shot 53.3% from the floor (16-30) and 33.3% from deep (5-15) in the half while Fort Hays State was 15-28 (53.6%) from the field and 4-11 from beyond the arc (36.4%).

Fort Hays State chipped away at Concordia's lead throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, eventually taking a 59-57 lead with 11:18 remaining. The lead proved to be short-lived as CSP regained the advantage less than a minute later on a free throw from Antwan Kimmons and closed the game on a 25-9 scoring run to secure the 14-point win.

Kimmons and Marcus Skeete topped the score sheet with 17 points each for Concordia, also leading the team with nine rebounds each. Skeete was 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arc with two blocks and two steals while Kimmons had one steal and was 4-12 from the field and 8-11 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore guard Ben Kopetzki finished with 13 points on 4-8 shooting, also pulling down four boards and adding a team-high four assists and two steals. Junior Ian Sluice was just behind him with 12 points on 4-7 shooting with all seven attempts coming from beyond the arc.

Cade Meyer rounded out Concordia's starters with 11 points on 4-8 shooting, also adding six rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal. Junior guard Sean Mathieu led the effort off the bench with six points on 3-4 shooting and two rebounds in 10 minutes of action.

As a unit, Concordia was 27-55 (49.1%) from the field and 10-26 (38.5%) from beyond the arc in the game while Fort Hays State finished 27-62 (43.5%) overall and 5-18 (27.8%) from deep. CSP got to the free throw line over twice as much as FHSU, going 18-24 while the Tigers were 9-11. Each team turned the ball over seven times, but Fort Hays State held a 14-12 edge in points off turnovers.
 
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold an 8-26 all-time record against St. Cloud State, including a 2-13 mark in non-conference play. Last season, the Golden Bears split two games with the Huskies, falling 86-56 on the road in January and winning 78-72 at the Gangelhoff Center in February.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE HUSKIES
The Golden Bears and Huskies last met in the 2023-24 regular season finale at the Gangelhoff Center on February 24, with Concordia claiming a 78-72 win.
 
Concordia put the clamps on St. Cloud State as they limited SCSU to just 31.7% (20-63) from the floor and 24.0% (6-25) from beyond the arc in the victory. On the offensive end, CSP finished with a mark of 40.7% (22-54) overall and 39.1% (9-23) from deep. The Golden Bears added a 9-2 edge on the break to aid their effort.
 
Four of Concordia's five starters reached double figures in scoring, led by a career-best 19 points from Sean Mathieu. The sophomore knocked down 4-9 from the floor and 9-12 from the free throw line while adding five assists, four rebounds and two steals in the contest.
 
Chet Kloss chipped in a career night of his own as he compiled his first career double-double with 12 points and 13 boards on 4-6 shooting. Ben Kopetzki added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds on the night.
 
Ian Sluice was the fourth starter in double digits as he knocked down 3-6 from three-point range to collect 10 points while DJ Akpati came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points.
 
MICHIGAN TECH SERIES HISTORY
Concordia and Michigan Tech have met just two times prior to this weekend's tilt, with each team claiming one win in the series. The Golden Bears secured the first matchup, winning 85-80 at the Gangelhoff Center in 2016. When the teams met the following year in Houghton, Mich., it was Michigan Tech coming away with the 68-57 win.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE HUSKIES
When the Golden Bears and Huskies last met in 2017 in Houghton, Mich., Michigan Tech secured a 68-57 win.

MTU used a solid defensive effort to aid the victory as they held the Golden Bears to 37.0% (20-54) from the floor while knocking down 45.1% (23-51) on the offensive end. Both teams found success from beyond the arc as Michigan Tech buried 13 threes on 28 attempts (46.4%) compared to 9-20 (45.0%) for Concordia. Michigan Tech also benefitted from a +6 turnover margin (13-7) to grab a 16-7 edge in points off of turnovers.
 
CSP led in most other statistical categories as they managed a strong 37-28 advantage in rebounding, including a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass, as well as a 15-5 edge in second chance points. The Golden Bears also got more production from their non-starters as the Concordia bench outscored MTU's 17-6.

Bryndan Matthews made it nine straight games (including exhibition) with 15+ points as he led the team with 15 and six boards on the night. Ted Brown joined him in double figures as the big man added 10 points on 3-6 shooting and 4-4 from the free throw line to go along with his five boards.
 
Avan Ward went into the half with nine points, but was held scoreless after the half, while Sam Siganos and Evan Wesenberg had six points apiece.
 
STAT LEADERS
Two games into the season, the Golden Bears are off to a hot start in several statistical categories.
 
As a team, CSP ranks second in the NSIC and 26^th in the nation with a 51.7% field goal percentage. Concordia's 9.5 three pointers per game also sit second in the conference, ranking 57^th in Division II.
 
Named NSIC Player of the Week for his efforts last week, Marcus Skeete's 70.0% three point percentage ranks third in the league  and 19^th in Division II and his 12.0 rebounds per game lead the conference and are eighth in the country. The junior also sits in sixth in field goal percentage (48.9%) and ninth in rebounds (6.8) and 11th in scoring (15.6). Antwan Kimmons leads the NSIC and ranks 14^th in Division II with an average of 25.0 points per game.
 
CHASING HISTORY
Marcus Skeete continues to climb the Concordia history book, now ranking ninth in program history with 1,231 points in his career. The Aurora, Ill. native became the fourth member of the 1,000/500/200 club in navy and gold last season, joining Jeff Chamberlain, Cole Olstad, and Bryndan Matthews in that exclusive group.