ST. PAUL, Minn. – Fresh off a 2-0 weekend at the Gangelhoff Center, the Concordia-St. Paul men's basketball team (15-7, 10-6 NSIC) will wrap up its four-game homestand this weekend, hosting Augustana (14-7, 12-4 NSIC) on Friday and Wayne State (14-7, 10-6 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

STANDINGS UPDATE
With six games to play in the regular season, Concordia is currently in a tie for fourth place in the NSIC standings at 10-6 in conference play. In the NSIC South Division, Concordia is also in fourth place with a division record of 3-5.

St. Cloud State leads the Northern Sun with a 14-2 conference record, while Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State trail close behind at 12-4 each.

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). 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, defeating Minot State 91-88 on Friday and topping UMary 92-79 on Saturday.

GAME ONE: CSP 91, MINOT 88
Junior guard Ben Kopetzki poured in 27 points, eight assists, six rebounds and drew seven fouls to get to the foul line 14 times, making 13. He was 4-7 from the arc including a go-ahead three-pointer to give CSP its final lead with 2:39 to play. Senior transfer Sam West (Minot State) had the go-ahead assist with 3:47 to play and hit a dagger three-pointer for a 4-point lead with two minutes left against his former squad.

The Golden Bears got off to a sluggish start in a fast-paced, physical contest, hitting just 6-of-15 inside the arc in the first half. But 6-of-13 three-point shooting before the break combined with 8-of-8 foul shooting helped CSP stay within single digits 45-38 at the half. Minot State started hot, scoring the first seven points of the game and using an 8-0 run in the middle of the first half to take a 33-19 lead with 8:31 to play in the half.

The Beavers shot 53.3 percent (16-30) from the floor, 40.0 percent (4-10) from three and 9-9 from the stripe in the half.

Concordia still trailed by 10, 43-33, with 1:22 to go in the half, but a pair of Kopetzki free throws and a Ryan Johnson three-pointer closed it to single digits with Minot State scoring just before the break for the 7-point margin.

The Golden Bears came out hot in the second half, closing the gap to one, 45-44, on Owen Carlson's jumper to cap an 11-2 scoring run. But every time CSP would close the gap, Minot State seemed to have an answer, pushing the margin back to eight with seven-straight points.

Concordia cut it back to one point again with 13:47 to play in the game on a pair of Kopetzki free throws to make it 55-54 with the Beavers once again answering with eight-straight points and a nine-point lead with 12:23 to play.

CSP still trailed by seven, 78-71, with just under six minutes left in the contest when the Golden Bears put their foot on the gas, first cutting the margin to one on Reid Patterson's turn-around jumper with 4:45 to go (78-77) before Sam West found a cutting Chet Kloss through the lane for a finish at the rim a minute later to give Concordia its first lead of the night, 81-80 with 3:47 to play.

Minot State answered with a Deuce Benjamin step-back three-pointer on the next possession. He would finish with 19 points although CSP bottled him up for 6-20 shooting and four turnovers. 

Trailing by two, CSP came up with an empty offensive possession but Kloss and Kopetzki combined for an aggressive double-team outside the arc with Kloss forcing the steal and Kopetzki burying a three-pointer in transition on a feed from Kloss for the game's third and final possession change with 2:39 remaining. 

CSP picked up another steal as Owen Carlson tapped an errant lob pass from the baseline to the top of the key, hustling into CSP's frontcourt with the ball going out of bounds off Minot State.

On the ensuing possession, Kopetzki found an open Sam West in the corner, burying the three-pointer and giving his new team a 4-point lead over his old team,88-84 with two minutes to play.

Concordia made two of its next four free throws allowing the Beavers some late life with Isaiah Alexander hitting a three-pointer in transition with less than a second to play. Kopetzki took a clean inbounds pass, drew a foul and made both free throws with 0.3 seconds to play for a three-point lead and Minot State out of timeouts forced to inbound from the opposite end of the floor. Carlson nabbed the baseball-style throw for his fourth steal of the night to seal the win.

Carlson had a big night, scoring 19 points despite first-half foul trouble limiting his minutes. He was 7-9 from the field, knocked down both of his three-pointers. West had another all-around performance, scoring 10 points, adding six rebounds (four offensive), three assists and a steal. Reid Patterson, who missed the last few games, returned to the lineup and scored 10 points off the bench including 2-4 from three-point range. 

Jaden Wysocki, like West, also had the opportunity to face his former squad, scoring five points including a three-pointer, and collecting six rebounds. Kloss and Johnson each scored eight points, as well.

The Golden Bears shot slightly better in the second half (46.9%) than the first (42.9%) from the field, but continued stellar three-point efficiency with a repeat of the 6-13 (46.2%) distance shooting. CSP converted 17-23 from the stripe in the second half, as well, putting up a +7 in scoring over Minot State (10-15) in second half free throw shooting.

GAME TWO: CSP 92, UMARY 79
The Golden Bears came out hot from the gate, making eight of their first nine shots including three from deep, while limiting UMary to 2-9 shooting to start the game and three turnovers in the first five minutes of play. The Marauders didn't snap the 19-4 run until a three-pointer six and a half minutes into the contest. Concordia scored the first seven points and never trailed in a game that had no ties or lead changes. 

After making his first four shots and scoring 10 points in five minutes, Carlson would end up finishing 11-17 from the field, 5-8 from three, adding eight rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal in 26 minutes.

The Golden Bears made 62.5 percent (20-32) from the field, 43.8 percent (7-16) from three in the first half while holding the Marauders to 33.3 percent (13-39) shooting and 27.8 percent (5-18) three-point shooting, holding a 51-31 halftime lead.

None of Concordia's five starters played 30 minutes as the Golden Bears led by as many as 23 points - hitting the margin in the first and second half, allowing the bench to see significant action. Eight different Golden Bears saw 20-plus minutes of action and nine played at least 11 minutes. The margin was never closer than nine in the first half or 13 in the second half.

Concordia's bench was led by Reid Patterson's sharp-shooting, connecting on 5-7 from three-point distance and 6-9 from the field for 17 points in 20 minutes. Marcus Burks added eight points on four shots (1-4 FG, 6-9 FT) and four assists and Hudson Vaith added eight points on just three shots (2-3 FG, 4-6 FT). 

Sam West flirted with a triple-double, although he didn't end up with double-figures in any of the key statistics required. He scored nine points on 4-6 shooting, had nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals while playing a team-high 29 minutes. 

In the final tally, the Golden Bears would shoot 58.9 percent (33-56) from the floor and 50.0 percent (13-26) from three while outscoring UMary 13-1 at the foul line (13-21 to 1-4). UMary had a strong second-half shooting effort, hitting 61.3 percent (19-31) after the break to finish at 45.7 (32-70), while knocking down 14 three-pointers at a 40.0 percent clip in 35 attempts. 

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 12th in Division II with 21.9 points per game. He ranks third in all of Division II with 482 total points scored this season. Kopetzki also ranks fourth in the NSIC in free throw percentage (88.2%) and seventh in three point percentage (39.5%).

Sophomore Owen Carlson remains one of the best three point shooters in the conference, connecting on 45.9% of his attempts from beyond the arc to rank second in the NSIC.

Senior Sam West ranks third in the NSIC with 5.0 assists per game, while also leading the league with 2.7 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 83.2 points per game on offense and 12^th with 81.4 points allowed per game on defense. The Golden Bears also lead the conference with 15.55 assists per game and rank third with 8.27 steals per game.

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and Vikings have met a total of 39 times prior to Thursday, with Augustana leading the series 32-7. In games at the Gangelhoff Center, the Vikings hold a 13-6 edge.

Concordia emerged victorious by a score of 99-97 in the lone meeting between the teams last season, but the Vikings secured an 82-69 win over Concordia earlier this season in Sioux Falls, S.D.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Coming into Thursday's game, the Vikings are 14-7 overall this season with a 12-4 record in conference games. Augustana sits in a tie for second place alongside Southwest Minnesota State in the NSIC standings.

The Vikings rank second in the NSIC, averaging 83.2 points per game. On defense, Augie sits eighth in the Northern Sun with 76.7 points allowed per game. They boast the top field goal percentage (44.1%) and free throw percentage (75.5%) in the conference, and rank fifth in three point percentage (37.1%).

Sophomore guard Tameron Ferguson paces the Vikings with 20.9 points per game, third most in the NSIC. Ferguson leads the NSIC in assists per game (6.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.24), ranking fourth in all of Division II in both categories.

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats lead the all-time series against the Golden Bears 32-22, but the series is dead even at 14-14 in games played at the Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia has won three of the last five matchups, including both meetings last season, but Wayne State secured a 79-65 victory over CSP when they played in December earlier this season.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats come into the weekend holding an overall record of 14-8, including a 10-6 mark in NSIC games, putting them in a tie for fourth place in the Northern Sun alongside Concordia.

The Wildcat offense ranks seventh in the NSIC with 77.3 points per game while sitting fifth in points allowed per game at 74.3. Wayne State shoots the ball at a 47.2% clip from the field, good for fifth in the conference.

WSC senior Andrew Stokes leads the NSIC with a 59.7% field goal percentage. Stokes, the reigning NSIC South Division Player of the Week, ranks second on the team with 13.7 points per game. Sophomore Matt Noll paces the Wildcats with 14.0 points per game this season.