ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (18-8, 13-7 NSIC) will wrap up the regular season with a split week, playing at conference champion St. Cloud State (21-5, 18-2 NSIC) on Wednesday and hosting Minnesota State (18-10, 12-8 NSIC) on Saturday for senior day.

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 two games remaining in the regular season, Concordia currently sits in a tie for third place in the conference with an NSIC record of 13-7.

St. Cloud State has clinched the NSIC regular season title with a current record of 18-2, while Augustana ranks second at 15-5 in Northern Sun play. Concordia and Southwest Minnesota State currently occupy the final two first-round bye slots at 13-7 each, while Minnesota State sits just one game back at 12-8 in fifth place.

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.

NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Ben Kopetzki took home his second weekly conference honor of the season last week, earning NSIC South Division Player of the Week honors. The NSIC's leading scorer this season, Kopetzki averaged 21.5 points throughout the week, adding four assists, three rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears were on the road for a pair of games last week, picking up two wins, including victories over Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.

GAME ONE: CSP 94, USF 84
Junior Ben Kopetzki led the charge for Concordia with 23 points on 9-18 shooting, also adding six assists and four rebounds.

Senior Reid Patterson came within a point of his season high, scoring 22 off the bench on an efficient 9-12 shooting line to go along with three rebounds. Fellow senior Sam West was also highly efficient as usual, knocking down five of his six attempts from the field for 13 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.

Junior Jaden Wysocki scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds, while sophomore Owen Carlson added 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Chet Kloss rounded out the starters for Concordia and neared a double-double with nine points, three blocks, and a team-leading eight rebounds.

The Golden Bears got off to a slow start in the first half as the Cougars built an early 13-7 advantage. Concordia found its first real spark of the night at that point as it put together an 8-0 scoring run over the next three minutes to take the lead for the first time at 15-13.

From there, the momentum flipped once again, with the Cougars going on an extended 25-6 scoring run covering nearly seven minutes to take a commanding 17-point lead at 38-21 with 5:41 remaining in the half. The trend of heavy momentum shifts continued, with Concordia closing the half on a 19-6 run that saw them cut the deficit to just four points at 44-40 at the intermission.

A three-ball from Carlson and a fastbreak layup by West off a steal by Carlson less than a minute into the period gave the Golden Bears a hot start in the second half, quickly putting them on top 45-43. The teams jockeyed for positioning in the following minutes, with three ties and nine lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the half.

Concordia took control of the contest down the stretch, gaining the lead for the final time on another triple by Carlson with 9:57 to play and never looking back. The advantage ballooned quickly, reaching its peak with CSP leading by 15 points with six minutes remaining, with the Golden Bears coasting to the double-digit victory.

For the game, Concordia shot 57.1% (36-63) overall and 43.3% (13-30) from beyond the arc, while Sioux Falls shot at a 45.9% (28-61) clip with a 33.3% (9-27) performance from deep.  

Turnovers were an issue for both teams as Concordia gave the ball away 19 times and Sioux Falls turned it over 18 times. CSP proved slightly more effective in capitalizing on USF's mistakes, however, outscoring the Cougars 24-19 in points off turnovers. Led by a strong evening from Patterson, CSP's reserves played a vital role in the win, outscoring USF's bench 28-9 to give Concordia a major advantage.

GAME TWO: CSP 78, SMSU 69
Reid Patterson led the Golden Bears on offense with 21 points while pulling down four rebounds. The senior put together another highly efficient 7-11 shooting performance, including a 4-6 shooting line from outside the arc. After scoring 22 points in Thursday's win over Sioux Falls, Patterson has now scored 20 or more points in consecutive games twice this season, and has eclipsed 20 points in six games in total.

Junior Ben Kopetzki finished as the game's second leading scorer, tallying 20 points on 7-12 shooting and 5-9 from deep while adding two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Sophomore Owen Carlson was the only other Golden Bear in double figures, scoring 12 points with five rebounds. Jaden Wysocki finished with nine points and three rebounds, and Sam West dished out eight assists and added five points, three rebounds, and two steals.

The Golden Bears came out swinging in the first half, using early three pointers from Sam West and Jaden Wysocki to score the game's first six points. Concordia continued to grow its lead in the following minutes, carving out a 28-14 advantage with 8:13 remaining in the half. The Mustangs took control late in the half, using a 20-8 scoring run down the stretch to cut the deficit to just two points at 36-34 before the intermission.  

The Mustangs kept the game close in the early stages of the second half as they trailed by just three points at 44-41 with 14:26 remaining in regulation, but Concordia put together an 8-0 scoring run throughout the next three minutes with five points from Patterson and three from Wysocki to restore a double-digit advantage at 52-41. Concordia's lead grew to as many as 15 and never dipped below seven from that point on as the Bears cruised to the nine-point win.

As a team, Concordia shot 46.7% (28-60) from the field and 43.8% (14-32) from deep, while SMSU shot 48.1% (26-54) overall and 37.9% (11-29) from beyond the arc.

The Golden Bears turned Valentine's Day into a feast, capitalizing on several Mustang miscues by converting 14 SMSU turnovers into 14 points, while committing just eight turnovers of their own.

STAT SHEET STANDOUTS
Ben Kopetzki continues to be the most consistent scorer in the NSIC, leading the conference and ranking 12^th in Division II with 21.3 points per game. The junior, who wears jersey number five, has scored 555 points this season and ranks fifth in Division II in points scored. Kopetzki also sits 13^th in the NSIC in field goal percentage (44.3%), ninth in three point percentage (38.7%), and second in free throw percentage (88.7%).

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 5.2 assists per game.

Sophomore Owen Carlson continues to be one of the most efficient three point shooter in the conference, knocking down 44.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc to lead the conference.

ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
Concordia and St. Cloud State have met a total of 37 times prior to Wednesday, and the Huskies currently lead the series 28-9. The series has been more even in recent years, with each team holding a 2-2 head-to-head record over the last four games.

When the two teams met at the Gangelhoff Center earlier this season on December 3, the Huskies escaped with a 93-87 win.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES
The Huskies, who clinched the NSIC regular season title last weekend, enter the game with an overall record of 21-5 and a mark of 18-2 in NSIC play.

The Huskies hang their hats on the defensive end of the court, leading the NSIC with just 66.5 points allowed to opponents per game. On offense, SCSU ranks eighth in the conference with 76.3 points per game. St. Cloud State also pulls down more rebounds than anyone else in the NSIC, averaging 41.00 rebounds per game.

Sophomore Luke Winkel paces the Huskies on offense with 18.4 points per game, good for fifth in the conference, and sits sixth in the conference with 4.0 assists per game. SCSU junior Wyatt Hawks leads the NSIC in both total rebounds (222) and blocks (59) this season.

MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
In 44 prior meetings between the Golden Bears and Mavericks, MSU holds a 36-8 advantage. CSP has had the edge recently, winning the last two matchups with the Mavericks, including an 89-77 win earlier this season on December 6 in Mankato, Minn.  
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks currently hold an overall record of 18-10, including a mark of 12-8 in conference play.

On offense, MSU sits sixth in the NSIC with 78.8 points per game. Defensively, they rank fourth with an average of 74.0 points allowed to their opponents.

Junior Traijan Sain leads the way on offense for MSU with 13.3 points per game, good for 25^th in the NSIC. Junior Arhman Lewis boasts the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference at 3.35, also ranking second with 6.0 assists per game. Senior

Malcolm Jones is one of the conference's top rebounders, ranking third with an average of 7.6 per game.