ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (16-8, 11-7 NSIC) will hit the road to begin its final stretch of road games this week, starting with games at Sioux Falls (12-12, 9-9 NSIC) on Thursday and Southwest Minnesota State (14-9, 12-6 NSIC) on Saturday.

DOWNLOAD THE APP
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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

STANDINGS UPDATE
With just four games to play in the regular season, Concordia is currently in a tie for fourth place in the NSIC standings at 11-7 in conference play. In the NSIC South Division, Concordia is also in fourth place with a division record of 4-6.

St. Cloud State leads the Northern Sun with a 16-2 conference record, while Augustana sits second at 14-4 and Southwest Minnesota State ranks third at 12-6.

The 2025-26 NSIC Basketball Tournament, scheduled to begin with first-round games on February 25, is a twelve-team tournament and will be seeded using overall conference win percentage. (22-games). The top four seeds will receive first-round byes, while seeds 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 in the first round with games held on the campus of the higher seed. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and NSIC Tournament Championship will be held at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
As a first year member of both the NSIC and the NCAA, Jamestown is eligible for NSIC overall and division titles, but is not eligible for the NSIC Tournament this season.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears hosted a pair of NSIC foes at the Gangelhoff Center last week, going 1-1 after falling to Augustana 88-81 on Thursday and defeating Wayne State 95-59 on Saturday.

GAME ONE: AUGIE 88, CSP 81
Junior Ben Kopetzki finished as CSP's scoring leader, pouring in 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six assists, leading the team in both categories.

Fellow junior Chet Kloss had a career night, posting a career high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Senior Sam West finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and fellow senior Reid Patterson joined him in double figures with 11 points to lead Concordia's reserves.

The Golden Bears carved out an early 11-9 lead, but Augustana followed with a 17-2 scoring surge to take a 26-13 advantage of their own. The Vikings maintained the lead for the remainder of the half, with the advantage peaking at 13 on multiple occasions. At the end of the half, the Vikings held a 53-46 advantage.

The Vikings were red hot in the opening frame, knocking down 18 of their 28 attempts from the field (64.3%) and going 11-of-18 (64.3%) from beyond the arc.

CSP slowly chipped away at the lead throughout the second half, cutting the deficit to five at the 14-minute mark and making it a four-point game at 65-61 with just over 11 minutes to play. Shortly after, Concordia knotted the game up at 70 on a layup by Sam West. That proved to be the end of CSP's comeback bid, as Augustana quickly buried a three pointer and never looked back, taking a lead that it would never relinquish on the way to the seven-point victory.

For the game, Augustana went 29-of-54 (53.7%) from the field and 17-of-29 (58.6%) from deep, while CSP finished 30-of-60 from the field and 9-of-29 (31.0%) from beyond the arc. Concordia won the battle on the glass with a 33-29 edge in rebounding and also dominated in the painted area with a 38-22 scoring advantage down low.  

GAME TWO: CSP 95, WSC 59
Sophomore Marcus Burks had his strongest outing in a Concordia uniform thus far, leading all players in the game with 19 points on an efficient 7-of-11 shooting line, including a perfect 2-of-2 performance from beyond the arc. Burks was also active in other areas, tallying three rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

Fellow sophomore Owen Carlson also had a solid afternoon, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Jaden Wysocki and Reid Patterson added 13 points each for Concordia, while Ben Kopetzki finished with 11 points.

Senior Chet Kloss led the effort on the glass with 11 rebounds, including a pair of offensive boards, while Sam West led the team with five assists.

The Golden Bears looked to be in control from the opening tip, holding the Wildcats to just six points while scoring 22 to lead by 16 through the game's first 11 minutes. The lead ballooned as high as 23 in the first half before Concordia took a 43-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Wildcats used a 9-2 scoring run early in the second half to cut the deficit to 16 at 52-36 with just over 13 minutes to play, but that proved to be as close as they would get. The CSP lead continued to grow throughout the remainder of the contest, as the Bears outscored the Wildcats 36-18 in the game's final 11 minutes.

CSP dominated nearly every facet of the game, leading in rebounds (45-30), assists (19-6), points off turnovers (21-20), bench points (51-17), fast break points (19-2), and points in the paint (32-22). The Golden Bears shot 53.1% (34-of-64) from the field and 46.7% (14-of-30) from beyond the arc and limited Wayne State to just 30.9% (17-of-55) shooting and 11.1% (2-of-18) from deep. 

Concordia dug deep into its reserves late in the second half, with 15 of the 17 players on the roster seeing action in the game. It marked the first collegiate appearances for a pair of freshmen in Alex Kopetzki and Allan Lankfard Jr., with Kopetzki hitting a jumper late in the game for the first points of his career.

Concordia's 36-point margin of victory was its largest since November 25, 2023, when it beat Truman State 96-54, a 42-point win. The win improved CSP's all-time record against Wayne State to 23-32, and gave Concordia a 15-14 edge against the Wildcats in games played at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears have now won three of the last four meetings with WSC.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Junior Ben Kopetzki continues to be the most consistent scorer in the NSIC, leading the conference and ranking 14^th in Division II with 21.3 points per game. Kopetzki also sits 12^th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (43.6%), ninth in three point percentage (38.3%), and third in free throw percentage (88.4%).

Senior Sam West paces the Northern Sun with 2.74 steals per game this season, an average that ranks ninth most in Division II this year and would stand as the second-highest single-season mark in program history. West also sits third in the conference with 5.0 assists per game.

Sophomore Owen Carlson continues to be the most efficient three point shooter in the conference, knocking down 46.2% of his attempts from beyond the arc to lead the conference.

SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
Concordia and Sioux Falls have faced each other a total of 34 times ahead of Thursday's game, with the Cougars leading the series 24-10. When playing in Sioux Falls, Concordia is just 3-12 all-time. CSP has had the edge in recent years, winning the last three meetings, including a 95-92 overtime win over the Cougars at the Gangelhoff Center earlier this season.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Coming into Thursday's game, the Cougars are 12-12 overall and 9-9 in conference play.

The Cougars feature a prolific offense, leading the NSIC and ranking 38^th in all of Division II with 84.3 points per game this season. On defense, the Cougars rank dead last in the NSIC with 83.8 points allowed per game.

USF gets to the free throw line more than anyone else in the conference, ranking 15^th in the nation with 25.6 free throw attempts per game. They also rank second in the NSIC and 18^th in all of Division II with 40.5 rebounds per game.

Freshman guard Brogan Madson leads the way for USF, ranking sixth in the conference with 18.4 points per game and sitting 11^th in the NSIC with 70 assists this season. Junior sharpshooter Kyle Ingwerson poses a strong threat from beyond the arc, ranking second in the NSIC in both three point percentage (39.0%) and three pointers made per game (2.61).

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
In  51 prior meetings between the Golden Bears and Mustangs, Southwest Minnesota State holds a 34-17 advantage. Concordia has fared better in recent years, winning three of the last five matchups with SMSU. When the two teams met at the Gangelhoff Center earlier this season, the Mustangs claimed an 80-71 win over CSP.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs enter the weekend with an overall record of 14-9 and a conference mark of 12-6, putting them one spot ahead of CSP in the NSIC standings.

In contrast to the Cougars, the Mustangs rank near the bottom of the conference on offense at 14^th with 73.7 points per game, while holding opponents to just 66.4 points per game, second best in the NSIC. SMSU features an efficient offense that ranks fourth in the NSIC with a 47.7% shooting clip while ranking second in the conference with a 55.6% effective field goal percentage. The Mustang offense leads the NSIC in three point percentage at exactly 40%, a mark that sits fifth in the nation. On defense, the Mustangs lead the conference with 9.2 steals per game.

Senior Jakob Braaten paces the Mustangs and ranks 10^th in the NSIC with 15.0 points per game, also sitting fifth in the NSIC with a 51.8% field goal percentage. Junior Mekhi Shaw ranks second in the Northen Sun with  2.26 steals per game.