ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 24 Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (18-6, 13-5 NSIC) will wrap up its regular season home schedule this week, hosting Northern State (2-22, 1-17 NSIC) on Friday and MSU Moorhead (16-8, 11-7 NSIC) on Saturday.

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IN THE POLLS
For the first time in program history, the Golden Bears secured a spot in the top 25 of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Men's Basketball Rankings, coming in at No. 24 after receiving 54 points.

The Golden Bears are the lone Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference squad in the poll this week, with both Minot State (21-6, 12-6 NSIC) and Southwest Minnesota State (18-6, 13-5 NSIC) dropping out of the top 25.
Concordia also made its first-ever appearance in the D2CSC Media Poll, coming in at No. 23 with 64 votes and joining No. 22 Southwest Minnesota State as the only NSIC teams in the poll. 

POSTSEASON PUSH
The Golden Bears are seeking their first berth to the NSIC Tournament since the 2019-20 season where they fell to Minnesota Duluth 92-87 in double overtime on the road in the first round. With four games to play in the regular season, the Golden Bears currently sit atop the NSIC standings with a 13-5 record in conference play. The top 12 teams will secure berths in the NSIC Tournament, with the top four seeds receiving first-round byes and automatically advancing to the quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
KIMMONS' HISTORIC SEASON
In the midst of all the team success this year, senior guard Antwan Kimmons is having of one of the strongest individual seasons in program history. In Saturday's win over Wayne State, Kimmons scored his 600^th point this season to break his own single-season scoring record of 591 points previously set in the 2022-23 season. Kimmons has also broken the Golden Bear record for free throw attempts in a season with 220 so far this year.

Kimmons has been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Conference Information Directors Association (D2CIDA) Division II Player of the Week two times this season, and is the only Golden Bear in program history to earn the honor. He has also secured NSIC Player of the Week honors three times.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears played a pair of conference contests last week, topping Sioux Falls 108-106 in double overtime at the Gangelhoff Center on Thursday and defeating Wayne State (Neb.) 77-60 on the road on Saturday.

After working out to an early double-digit lead in the first half against Sioux Falls, the Golden Bears maintained the advantage throughout the half, leading 45-26 at halftime. The Cougars couldn't miss in the second half, erasing a 20-point deficit to send the game to overtime.  A winner still couldn't be decided after the first overtime period, and the game headed to double overtime tied at 97. Tied at 106-106 late in double overtime, an alley-oop from Jappannah Kellogg with just two seconds left on the clock sealed the win for Concordia.

Senior forward Japannah Kellogg played the hero for Concordia, throwing down the game-winning alley-oop with an assist from Ben Kopetzki with two seconds remaining in double overtime. He finished with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, adding two rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

Antwan Kimmons had his eighth game of the season with 30 or more points, scoring 31 on 9-of-19 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.

Cade Meyer finished with his first double-double of the season, scoring 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking a game-high four shots. Marcus Skeete also finished the game in double figures, scoring 14 points with five rebounds in 23 minutes before exiting with an injury. Reid Patterson provided a spark off the bench on a crucial moment for Concordia, knocking down a pair of three pointers in double overtime for six points in the game.

On Saturday, Wayne State took its first and only lead of the game at 4-2, but the Golden Bears dominated the rest of the half and eventually carried a 46-28 advantage into the intermission. The lead continued to swell early in the second half, going as high as 28 before the Golden Bears secured the 17-point win.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons led all players in scoring with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, also adding eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Kimmons' 22 points pushed his season total to 600, breaking his own school record of 591 set in the 2022-23 season. 

Senior forward Cade Meyer logged his second straight double-double, scoring 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Making just his second start of the season, junior Reid Patterson made the most of his opportunity with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
 The Golden Bears hold an all-time record of 8-34 against the Wolves, but Concordia has the edge this season with a 78-75 win over NSU in Aberdeen in early January. In 17 prior matchups at the Gangelhoff Center, Concordia has gone 6-11 against Northern State.

LAST MEETING WITH THE WOLVES
When the two teams last met in January earlier this season, the Golden Bears came away with a 78-75 win.

The Golden Bears found themselves in an 18-6 hole early in the first half, but battled back to make it a four-point game at 42-38 at the intermission. The Golden Bears regained the lead early in the second half and held it for the remainder of the game. Northern State inbounded the ball trailing by three with under four seconds to play, but the would-be game tying shot did not fall for the Wolves as the Bears hung on for the close win. 

Antwan Kimmons finished as the game's scoring leader once again, tallying 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds, a game-high seven assists, and a steal. 

Guard Ben Kopetzki also shined, pouring in 20 points on an extremely efficient shooting line of 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The sophomore was also active in other areas, adding seven rebounds and five assists. Senior Marcus Skeete was the only other Golden Bear in double figures with 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists. 

Cade Meyer chipped in nine points with seven rebounds while junior Reid Patterson added nine points and eight rebounds off the bench. 

MSU MOORHEAD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have posted an all-time record of 14-24 against MSU Moorhead, including a 93-87 win in January early this season. Concordia holds a winning record in meetings at the Gangelhoff Center, going 9-8 against the Dragons in 17 prior matchups.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE DRAGONS
The two teams last met on January 3 in Moorhead, Minn. where the Golden Bears defeated the Dragons 93-87.   

After trailing by double digits early in the opening half, the Golden Bears offense came alive and battled back to hold a seven-point lead at halftime. Concordia's lead grew to as many as 16 midway through the second half, but the Dragons managed to cut the deficit to single digits in the game's final minutes before the buzzer sounded with CSP on top 93-87.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons carried over his dominant play into the new year, matching his career high with 43 points, the second most in school history, on 16-of-35 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal for his second consecutive game with 40-plus points and his third of the season. Kimmons now owns three of Concordia's five all-time 40-plus point performances, and is the only Golden Bear with more than one such game in his career. 

Swingman Marcus Skeete was Concordia's second leading scorer with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting while pulling down seven rebounds and adding an assist and a steal. Senior forward Cade Meyer had another efficient outing, scoring 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting while leading the team with eight rebounds. 

Ben Kopetzki and Ian Sluice rounded out Concordia's starting five with seven and two points, respectively. Reid Patterson and Will Boser provided CSP's only bench points of the evening with three each. 

STAT LEADERS
The Golden Bears continue to rank highly on the conference and national statistics leaderboards in many important categories.

As a team, CSP's average of 30.79 defensive rebounds per game leads all of Division II while its scoring average of 87.2 points per game paces the NSIC and ranks 17th in Division II. Concordia also ranks fourth in the conference with 14.7 assists per game. The Golden Bears' team field goal percentage of 49.5% also paces the NSIC and is 20th in all of Division II.
 
The Golden Bears have been successful in drawing defensive contact throughout the season, ranking second in the league with an average of 23.5 free throw attempts per game.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons continues to be one of the most dominant players in al of Division II, leading the NSIC and ranking fifth in the nation in points per game (25.0) while pacing the league and sitting 15th in Division II with 5.6 assists per game. The senior leads the nation in both free throw attempts (220) and made free throws (164). Kimmons has scored 40 or more points three times so far this season, including a pair of 43-point performances, and is the only Golden Bear with more than one such game in his career. His current scoring average of 25.0 points per game would be the highest single-season mark in school history.

Senior forward Cade Meyer's field goal percentage of 63.5% is good for second in the conference and 13th in all of Division II so far this year.

Marcus Skeete continues to be Concordia's top rebounder, pulling down an average of 7.43per game, good for seventh most in the NSIC.