ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (8-5, 3-4 NSIC) is set to return to action this week with a single road game at Winona State (3-9, 2-5 NSIC) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears closed out the 2024 portion of their schedule on the road on December 20, falling to Augustana (S.D.) 82-69 in NSIC play.

The Golden Bears were unable to overcome a strong first half from the Vikings, who built a 47-32 lead at the break and maintained control throughout the second half.

Junior Ben Kopetzki led Concordia with 16 points and six assists, shooting 6-of-14 from the field and adding two three-pointers. Junior Jaden Wysocki chipped in eight points and five rebounds, and fellow junior Chet Kloss finished second on the team with nine points, also pulling down two boards.

Sophomore Owen Carlson provided a spark off the bench with 10 points and three rebounds, while Hudson Vaith added eight points and six rebounds, Marcus Burks contributed six points and three rebounds, and Patrick Bath finished with four points, two rebounds, and two steals. Ryan Johnson tied for the team lead with six rebounds, also adding three points and three assists.

Augustana played with an edge from the opening tip, scoring the first eight points of the game and leading by 11 at 13-2 less than three minutes in. The Golden Bears briefly cut the deficit to single digits at 22-13 with 12:47 remaining in the half, but the Vikings quickly surged back to lead by as many as 19 on the way to a 47-32 advantage at the break. The Bears never got within 10 in the second half, with the Vikings fending off every Concordia push to secure the 82-69 win.

As a team, CSP shot 24-of-64 (37.5%) from the field and 8-of-31 (25.8%) from three-point range, while going 13-of-20 at the free throw line. Augustana finished 26-of-53 (49.1%) shooting, knocked down 10 three-pointers, and held a 38-36 rebounding advantage. Concordia managed a significant advantage on the offensive glass, pulling down nine offensive rebounds to Augustana's four, and turning that into a 14-2 edge in second-chance points.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Junior Ben Kopetzki has led the way for the Golden Bear offense, ranking second in the NSIC and 15^th in all of Division II with 21.5 points per game while ranking 13^th in the conference in field goal percentage (44.0%) and third in free throw percentage (89.2%).

Senior Sam West has been CSP's top ball handler, ranking third in the conference with 5.2 assists per game and leading the league with 2.77 steals per game, a mark that would rank second in a single season in program history.

Sophomore Owen Carlson has been one of the top three point shooters in the NSIC thus far, knocking down 45.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc to rank fourth in the conference.
As a team, Concordia ranks fourth in the NSIC with 83.1 points per game on offense and 13^th with 81.8 points allowed per game on defense. The Golden Bears also lead the conference with 9.38 steals per game and rank second with 15.62 assists per game.

WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the 66^th meeting between the Golden Bears and Warriors, with Winona State holding a 57-8 advantage in the all-time series.

When the two teams met at the Gangelhoff Center earlier this season on November 11, Concordia came away with a dominant 83-58 victory to snap a nine-game losing streak to WSU.

In that game, CSP set the tone early with a dominant first half, shooting 17-of-29 (58.6%) from the floor and 8-of-15 (53.3%) from deep to lead by as many as 24 on the way to a 47-24 halftime advantage. The Golden Bears used active hands on defense to help carve out an early advantage, forcing 13 first-half turnovers and scoring 19 points off WSU miscues before the break. For the night, CSP finished with 26 points off turnovers and 13 steals while committing only 12 turnovers of its own.

The Golden Bears maintained control throughout the second half, never allowing the Warriors to get within 16 points as they closed out their first conference win of the season. CSP finished 31-of-62 (50.0%) from the field, 11-of-25 (44.0%) from deep, and assisted on 22 of its 31 made baskets. 

Kopetzki was dominant for the Golden Bears with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting (52.6%), including 4-of-9 (44.4%) from deep, while adding three rebounds, two assists, and a perfect 5-of-5 mark at the foul line. The junior is now averaging 24.7 points per game this season, scoring 21 or more in all three contests.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State enters the matchup with an overall record of 3-9 and a 2-5 mark in NSIC play.

As a team, the Warriors rank 16^th in the NSIC with 65.7 points per game on offense and rank 10^th in the conference with 78.1 points per game allowed on defense. Winona State has been the top free throw shooting team in the league, pacing all 16 teams with a 76.2% free throw percentage.

Individually, sophomore guard Gavyn Hurley leads the Warriors with 14.3 points per game. Hurley has shot 57.3% from the field this season, good for second-best in the NSIC, and ranks ninth in the conference with 6.4 rebounds per game.