ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (19-7, 14-6 NSIC) is set to close out its regular season schedule on the road this weekend, playing at Bemidji State (10-16, 7-13 NSIC) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston (5-21, 4-16 NSIC) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

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STAR TRIBUNE
Head Coach Matt Fletcher and senior guard Antwan Kimmons were featured in Patrick Reusse's latest column in the Star Tribune. To read more, click here.

POSTSEASON PUSH
Holding a record of 14-6 in conference play this season, the Golden Bears have officially clinched their first berth in the NSIC Tournament since the 2019-20 season. With just two games to play in the regular season, the Golden Bears currently sit in a five-way tie atop the NSIC standings with CSP, Southwest Minnesota State, Winona State, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State all holding conference records of 14-6. A share of the conference title would be Concordia's first as the Golden Bears have never finished higher than third place in the conference standings.

The top 12 teams will secure a place in the conference tournament while the top four seeds will receive a first-round bye and automatically advance to the quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

IN THE POLLS
The Golden Bears remained in the top 25 of the D2CSC Division II Media Poll this week, falling one spot to No. 24 after ranking 23^rd last week. In the NABC Coaches Poll, the Golden Bears dropped out of the top 25 after receiving 14 votes. Winona State is the lone NSIC representative in the latest NABC rankings, coming in at 23^rd overall.

REGION RANKINGS
The first of three NCAA Region Rankings were released on Wednesday afternoon, and Concordia-St. Paul was one of 10 Central Region teams to appear in the rankings. The first of the three rankings is posted in alphabetical order, while the second and third, releasing on February 26 and March 5, will be posted in rank order. In the latest edition of the D2CSC region rankings, CSP was ranked third out of the top 10 teams, the highest ranking of any of the seven NSIC schools in the rankings.

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. His 642 points so far this season are a program record, breaking his own record of 591 from the 2022-23 season. His 223 free throws attempted and 175 free throws made are both program records, and his 217 field goals and scoring average of 24.7 points per game are both second in a single season in CSP history.

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.

Kimmons was also named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List last week, given each year to the top player in all of NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears hosted their final home games of the regular season last weekend, topping Northern State 87-66 on Friday and falling to MSU Moorhead 92-85 on Saturday.

After a slow start that saw the Golden Bears trail by as many as 15 points in the opening minutes of Friday's contest, Concordia found its groove and clawed back to lead by three at halftime. CSP dominated the second half, outscoring NSU 56-38 to secure the 21-point win.

Senior swingman Marcus Skeete was red-hot from beyond the arc for Concordia, hitting six of his nine attempts from beyond the arc on his way to a 26-point, nine rebound performance. His six three pointers were a new career high.

Sophomore Ben Kopetzki also finished in double figures, scoring 13 points while pulling down seven rebounds and adding five assists.

Junior Reid Patterson went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc to lead the bench effort with nine points.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons notched his fifth double-double of the season in the game, tying his career high with 10 assists while adding 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Senior forward Cade Meyer flirted with a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.

On Saturday, Senior guard Antwan Kimmons led the team with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, also pulling down five rebounds and dishing five assists before fouling out late in the second half. Sophomore Ben Kopetzki finished second on the team with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, also adding three assists and two rebounds.

Senior forward Cade Meyer was third on the team with 15 points, three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. Senior Marcus Skeete finished with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Junior Reid Patterson led the effort off the bench with seven points and three rebounds.

The Dragons came out hot in the opening half, going 4-4 from the field in the opening three minutes to score the game's first 10 points. The Golden Bears put together an 8-2 run from that point to cut the deficit to four, but the Dragons managed to keep them at arm's length, maintaining the advantage throughout the half and working it back to double digits at 31-21 with 7:41 on the clock. CSP managed to cut the deficit to four once again at 45-41 with just over a minute remaining in the half, but a late Dragon layup made it a six-point game as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime.

The Golden Bears went 15-of-31 (48.4%) from the field in the first half while the Dragons were 19-of-32 (59.4%). MSU Moorhead's bench provided a significant advantage early in the game, outscoring CSP's bench 25-11 in the first half.

CSP went to work once again in the early minutes of the second half, cutting the deficit to three points at 63-60 with 10:21 on the clock. The Dragons stopped the bleeding at that point, putting together a quick 7-0 scoring burst to restore a double-digit lead less than a minute later. The Golden Bears did not go down easy as they made it a five-point game with 1:16 to play, but that proved to be all they could do as MSU Moorhead hit a three-pointer shortly after to go up by eight points, going on to eventually secure the seven-point win.

For the game, the Golden Bears were 29-of-58 (50%) from the field and 6-of-14 (42.9%) from beyond the arc while the Dragons shot 34-of-63 (54%) overall and 7-of-16 (43.8%) from deep. Concordia had a 12-10 edge in assists, but MSU Moorhead controlled the glass with a 37-27 advantage in rebounds, including a 24-19 edge in offensive boards that allowed them to outscore the Bears 19-6 in second chance points.

BEMIDJI STATE SERIES HISTORY
Friday's game at Bemidji will break a 20-20 tie in the all-time series. Home teams have historically dominated in the series, with the Golden Bears holding a 15-6 record at the Gangelhoff Center and the Beavers holding a 14-5 advantage in games played in Bemidji. Concordia has controlled the series in recent years, winning four of the last five meetings, with all four wins coming in St. Paul and the lone loss coming in Bemidji. Concordia's last win in Bemidji came on November 24, 2015.

LAST MEETING WITH THE BEAVERS
When the two teams last met in January earlier this season, the Golden Bears came away with a 70-68 win at the Gangelhoff Center.

The Golden Bears led for a majority of the opening half, leading by as many as 12 before taking a 38-31 advantage into the intermission. The Bears never surrendered the lead in the second half, but a late push by the Beavers made things interesting as BSU pulled within a single point on a three pointer with just four seconds on the clock. A pair of clutch free throws from senior Marcus Skeete followed, putting the final nail in the coffin as Concordia hung on for the 70-68 win.

Skeete led the way for Concordia, going a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe, and scoring 20 points while pulling down seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Ben Kopetzki was next on the box score with 14 points, three rebounds, and an assist.

Antwan Kimmons was the only other Golden Bear in double figures, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, and a team-leading five assists.

Senior Cade Meyer was the leading rebounder for Concordia, pulling down eight rebounds and adding nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Japannah Kellogg provided a spark off the bench for the Bears, knocking down both of his attempts from the field and all four of his free throws for eight points and two rebounds.

Skeete proved to be the hot hand early in the game, scoring Concordia's first 10 points to put the Bears up 10-3 after knocking down a pair of three pointers and a pair of mid-range jumpers. The Golden Bear advantage expanded to 15-2 shortly after, but an ensuing 20-8 run by the Beavers tied the game at 23 each with 8:08 to play in the half. The Beavers briefly gained the lead at 25-23, but CSP closed the half on a 15-8 run to take a 38-31 lead into halftime.

The Bears were the more efficient team in the first half, knocking down 13 of their 28 attempts (46.4%) from the field while holding the Beavers to just 13-of-34 (38.2%). Concordia also managed a 20-18 edge in total rebounds in the half, but BSU had a 9-5 advantage in assists.

Concordia held a comfortable advantage for most of the second half, clinging to a double-digit lead at 66-56 with under three minutes to play. Bemidji State would not go down without a fight, however, putting together an 11-2 run capped by a pull-up three pointer that cut the deficit to a single point at 68-67 with just four seconds to play. Skeete was fouled immediately after inbounding the ball, sinking both of his free throws for what proved to be the final nail in the coffin as Concordia went on to claim the 70-68 win.

For the game, the Golden Bears outshot the Beavers 42.6% (23-of-54) to 41.2% (28-of-68) from the field and held a 33.3% (6-of-18) to 25.0% (6-of-24) edge from beyond the arc. Bemidji State was more effective in sharing the ball, holding an 18-9 advantage in assists. Concordia narrowly outrebounded BSU 39-38. Fast break opportunities provided another advantage for CSP as they outscored the Beavers 9-2 in the category.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have posted an all-time record of 28-10 against Minnesota Crookston, including a record of 14-5 in road games. Each team has won five of the last 10 meetings, but Concordia has taken three of the last four.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
The two teams last met on January 3 in Moorhead, Minn. where the Golden Bears defeated the Dragons 93-87.   

The Golden Bears never trailed in the wire-to-wire victory, jumping out to an early 9-3 lead and expanding the advantage to 22 points at 48-26 at the intermission. The lead grew slightly in the second half, peaking at 26 before Concordia claimed the dominant 25-point win.

Senior guard Antwan Kimmons was extremely efficient in his 25 minutes, leading the team with 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with seven rebounds three assists, and a steal. Sophomore guard Ben Kopetzki also had a strong outing, leading the team with eight assists while scoring 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and pulling down three rebounds.

Cade Meyer scored 13 points and pulled down three rebounds while Marcus Skeete added 10 points and seven boards. Ian Sluice rounded out the starting five with five points, five assists, and two rebounds.

Japannah Kellogg had his strongest game of the season off the bench, scoring nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and leading the team with nine rebounds.

Kopetzki came out hot in the first half, scoring the first eight points of the game with a layup and a pair of three pointers, giving the Bears an early 8-0 advantage. The lead continued to grow throughout the half, peaking at 22 points with CSP holding a 48-26 advantage at halftime.

Kimmons was dominant in the half, knocking down eight of his 13 attempts from the field for 20 points to go along with two rebounds and three assists. As a team, the Golden Bears shot 55.9% (19-of-34) from the field and 66.7% (6-of-9) from beyond the arc while holding Minnesota Crookston to just 31.3% (10-of-32) overall and 31.3% (5-of-16) from deep.

Concordia's lead continued to grow in the second half, reaching a game-high 26 points at 84-58 with 5:56 remaining in regulation before CSP eventually walked away with the 25-point win.  

For the game, Concordia shot 58.3% (35-of-60) from the field and 50% (7-of-14) from beyond the arc while Crookston was 39.1% (27-of-69) overall and 32.1% (9-of-28) from deep.

STAT LEADERS
With just two games remaining in the regular season, 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 87.1 points per game paces the NSIC and ranks 19th in Division II. Concordia also ranks third in the conference with 14.3 assists per game. The Golden Bears' team field goal percentage of 49.4% also paces the NSIC and is 19th 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 23.3 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 fourth in the nation in points per game (24.7) while pacing the league and sitting 12th in Division II with 5.7 assists per game. The senior leads the nation in both free throw attempts (233) and made free throws (175). With 642 points and counting this season, Kimmons has already shattered his own school record for most points in a single season.

Senior forward Cade Meyer's field goal percentage of 62.7% is good for second in the conference and 14th in all of Division II so far this year. That mark would also be the second highest in a single season in school history, coming in just below Kenny Olafeso's 2011-12 record of 63.0%.

Marcus Skeete continues to be Concordia's top rebounder, pulling down an average of 7.3 per game, good for eighth most in the NSIC. Skeete has also contributed on the offensive end, ranking ninth in the conference with an average of 15.1 points per game.