ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (13-7, 8-6 NSIC) will return home to the friendly confines of the Gangelhoff Center this weekend for the first time in nearly three weeks as they prepare to host Minot State (8-12, 5-9 NSIC) on Friday and UMary (5-15, 3-11 NSIC) on Saturday.

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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 wrapped up a four-game road trip with a pair of games in northern Minnesota last weekend, with CSP defeating Bemidji State 99-95 on Friday and falling to Minnesota Duluth by a score of 71-61 on Saturday.

GAME ONE: CSP 99, BSU 95
The Beavers put together an efficient shooting performance in the first half, going 17-of-28 (60.7%) from the field and 5-of-11 (45.5%) from beyond the arc to lead by as many as nine before taking a four-point lead into halftime. Concordia flipped the script in the second half, going 16-of-24 (66.7%) from the field and 5-of-10 (50%) from deep to regain the lead late and hang on for yet another tight road win.

Junior Ben Kopetzki matched his career high in scoring for Concordia, posting a 34-point performance while shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Kopetzki also led the team with six rebounds and five assists.

Senior Sam West made his return to the lineup for CSP after a five-game absence due to injury, scoring 24 points, 17 of which came in the second half, and adding four rebounds and two assists.

Owen Carlson scored 16 points and pulled down four boards for CSP, and Chet Kloss joined him in double figures with 12 points. Kloss was also active in other areas, tallying five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

GAME TWO: UMD 71, CSP 61
In a back-and-forth first half that contained three ties and 10 lead changes, Concordia looked to be in control late as it used a 12-3 scoring burst to take a 31-24 lead with just over three minutes remaining. The Golden Bears went cold at that point, with UMD putting together an 8-0 scoring run of its own, capped off by a buzzer-beating three pointer, to take a 32-31 lead into the break.

The Bulldogs carried that momentum into the opening minutes of the second half, scoring eight unanswered after halftime to take a nine-point lead at 40-31. The UMD lead ballooned as high as 16 when the Bulldogs led 56-40 with 10:47 remaining. The Golden Bears found a spark and pulled themselves back into the game quickly from there, going on a 17-7 scoring run to cut the deficit to just four points at 61-57 with 5:51 to play. That proved to be as close as Concordia would get, as the Bulldogs closed the game on an 8-2 run to secure the 10-point win.

Senior Sam West led the way for CSP, scoring 12 points and adding six rebounds, five steals, and four assists, leading the team in each category. Ben Kopetzki and Jaden Wysocki added 10 points each for the Golden Bears, while Owen Carlson and Chet Kloss rounded out CSP's starting five with nine and four points, respectively.

Ryan Johnson led the effort off the bench with 10 points, and Hudson Vaith rounded out the score sheet with six points.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Junior guard Ben Kopetzki continues to be one of the top scorers in the country this season, leading the NSIC and ranking 10th in Division II with 22.1 points per game. Kopetzki also ranks fifth in the NSIC in free throw percentage (87.7%) and fourth in three point percentage (38.3%).

Sophomore Owen Carlson remains one of the best three point shooters in the conference, connecting on 43.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc to rank third in the NSIC.

Senior Sam West, who made his return to the lineup last weekend, ranks fourth in the NSIC with 4.9 assists per game, while also leading the league with 2.8 steals per game, a mark that would rank second in a single season in program history.

As a team, Concordia ranks fourth in the NSIC with 82.4 points per game on offense and 13^th with 81.2 points allowed per game on defense. The Golden Bears also sit second in the conference with 14.75 assists per game and rank third with 8.35 steals per game.

MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Beavers have met 15 times in prior seasons, with Minot State leading the series 11-4. In three meetings last season, the Bears went 1-2 against Minot with a regular season loss and an NSIC Tournament loss before they defeated the Beavers 83-71 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. When playing at the Gangelhoff Center, Concordia holds a record of 3-3 against Minot State.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
The Beavers hold an overall record of 8-12 this season, including a mark of 5-9 in Northern Sun play.

Minot State ranks ninth in the NSIC with 76.4 points per game and sits 10^th with 78.4 points allowed on defense. The Beavers rank sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (46.9%) while sitting near the bottom of the league at 14th in three point percentage (31.3%).

Junior Deuce Benjamin paces the Beavers with 19.0 points per game, sixth most in the NSIC. Fellow junior Isaiah Alexander leads the team and ranks 15^th in the conference with 5.8 rebounds per game.

UMARY SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the 29^th all-time meeting between CSP and UMary, with the Golden Bears holding an 18-10 lead in the series. When playing at the Gangelhoff Center, CSP is 9-4 all-time against UMary.

The two teams played each other once last season on January 25, 2025 when Concordia claimed a 71-65 win in Bismarck, N.D.

ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
The Marauders currently hold an overall record of 5-15 with a 3-11 record in NSIC games.

On offense, UMary ranks 13^th in the conference with 74.3 points per game. On the other end, the Marauders allow opponents to score 80.8 points per game, good for 12^th in the NSIC. The Marauders are a strong rebounding team, pulling down the third most boards in the NSIC with an average of 39.0 per game. They also rank third in offensive rebounds with 13.6 per game.

Junior Kelton Coleman leads the way for UMary's offense with 13.1 points per game, while fellow junior Tshawn Bois leads the team and ranks 14^th in the NSIC with 5.9 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Andre Austin ranks 12^th in the conference with 2.9 assists per game and sits seventh in the NSIC with a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.