ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (2-0) will open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday evening, hosting Winona State (1-1) at the Gangelhoff Center.

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.

WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, 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

BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online at cspbears.com/tickets prior to game day. All ticketed events for the 2025-26 academic year will utilize the Vivenu online ticket platform found at that link, and fans must scan a mobile ticket to enter. Tickets will still be sold on site on game day, but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their game day entry as smooth as possible is to purchase tickets online in advance. CSP students, faculty, and staff will be able to download and transfer their free passes through Vivenu.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears opened their season last weekend at the NSIC/MIAA Challenge, going 2-0 with wins over Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State.

The Bears shot the ball well from deep in the win over UNK, connecting on 12 three-pointers on 26 attempts (46.2%). The charity stripe provided another major advantage for CSP as the Bears went 24-35 at the foul line, while UNK was just 10-13. Concordia's bench gave CSP a massive spark, outscoring the Loper bench 42-30.

Sophomore guard Owen Carlson delivered the breakout performance of the day for Concordia, pouring in a career-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. He provided a spark throughout, scoring 10 of his points in the first half as CSP built a 50-48 lead at the break.

Guard Ben Kopetzki was steady and dynamic in the first game of his junior campaign, finishing with 21 points, four assists, and a pair of steals while converting 9-of-10 free throws. Forward Sam West made a major impact in multiple areas in his first game as a Golden Bear, adding 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and a steal across 33 minutes of action.

Senior Reid Patterson made a splash from the perimeter, scoring 18 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep, and junior Chet Kloss delivered an efficient 11 points and eight rebounds, knocking down both of his three-point attempts and going 4-of-5 from the field.

In the win over Fort Hays State, CSP controlled the game from the opening tip, building a 44-34 halftime advantage before maintaining a double-digit margin for the majority of the second half in the wire-to-wire victory. The Bears' efficiency from beyond the arc and dominance on the glass set the tone once again, as they connected on 10-of-21 threes (47.6%) while limiting the Tigers to just 2-of-7 (28.6%) from deep and outrebounded FHSU 36-23.

Junior guard Ben Kopetzki fueled the offensive attack with a game-high 24 points, shooting 7-of-15 from the field while knocking down 2-of-5 from three and going a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul line. He added three rebounds, three assists, and two steals in another steady performance. Sophomore guard Owen Carlson provided a major spark off the bench, finishing with 17 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting day, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

In the frontcourt, junior forward Jaden Wysocki delivered one of the most complete performances of the afternoon, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding a team-high six rebounds. Senior Sam West contributed 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals across 31 minutes.

Sophomore Patrick Bath tallied five points and three offensive boards, while Reid Patterson added five points and two rebounds.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Owen Carlson got off to a hot start in CSP's two games last weekend, knocking down 77.8% of his shots from the field, the second-best mark in the NSIC so far this season. The sophomore is averaging four made three pointers per game, the most in the conference.

Junior Ben Kopetzki is the Golden Bears' leading scorer, ranking third in the conference with 22.5 points per game. Kopetzki also ranks fourth in the NSIC with a 94.4% free throw shooting clip.

As a team, the Golden Bears lead the NSIC with an average of 88.5 points per game this season. Concordia's field goal percentage of 46.7% ranks fifth in the NSIC while their three point mark of 46.8% paces the league.

WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Warriors have met 64 times in prior seasons, with Winona State holding a dominant 57-7 edge in the series. Concordia's last win over WSU came on February 22, 2019, with the Golden Bears securing a 75-71 win. In meetings at the Gangelhoff Center, Winona State holds a 2-21 edge. The two teams played twice last season, with Winona State winning both games.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Through two games played this season, the Warriors rank last in the NSIC with an average of 58.5 points per game. On the other side, WSU is allowing opponents to score 73.5 points per game, the sixth-best mark in the conference.

Sophomore guard Gavyn Hurley sits 14^th in the conference with 16.5 points per game and ranks third in the NSIC in shooting percentage, knocking down 13 of his 18 attempts (72.2%).

LAST MEETING WITH THE WARRIORS
When the Golden Bears and Warriors last played on November 26, 2024, Winona State came away with an 83-73 win.

The Golden Bears were paced by senior guard Antwan Kimmons, who poured in a game-high 29 points on 9-18 shooting from the field (50.0%) and added 12 rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block for his first double-double of the season.

Marcus Skeete was the only other Golden Bear in double figures with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. Cade Meyer finished with nine points on 4-7 shooting from the field, adding six rebounds, and a steal. Reid Patterson led the Concordia bench with nine points and two rebounds.

As a unit, Concordia had its worst shooting night of the season so far, knocking down just 22 of 64 attempts (34.4%) from the field and going 7-35 from beyond the arc (20.0%). The Warriors fared only slightly better, going 28-24 (43.8%) overall and 5-22 from deep (22.7%). Concordia was the more effective team from the charity stripe, making 22-of-25 (88.0%) while WSU was 22-of-29 (75.9%). Despite being out-rebounded 44-39, the Golden Bears held a 16-11 advantage in second-chance points.

Both teams spent time with the lead in the opening half, with CSP holding the advantage for 6:15 of game time while Winona State spent 11:31 in the driver's seat. Neither team held a particularly large lead at any point, with the Bears leading by five at their peak and the Warriors maxing out at a seven-point lead. WSU held a 25-19 advantage with just over four minutes remaining in the half, but the Golden Bears closed the half on an 11-5 run to trail by a single point at the intermission.

Concordia came out strong in the second half, putting together an early 10-4 run to take a 39-34 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining. That lead proved to be short lived, as Winona State quickly recaptured the advantage and pushed it as high as nine in the following minutes. The Golden Bears managed to pull within three at 66-63 with 4:14 on the clock, but that proved to be as close as they would come with the Warriors capitalizing on their frequent trips to the charity stripe down the stretch, going 11-12 from the free throw line in the final four minutes to win the game by double digits.

Winona State was led by Luke Haertle with 24 points and eight rebounds while Isaiah Thompson registered a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double for the Warriors.