THIS WEEK
It's now a whole new season for the University of Mary when the Marauders visit the Concordia University, St. Paul Golden Bears in the first round of the 2015 NSIC / Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament tonight. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.

RECORDS
U-Mary finished the regular season 9-17 overall and 7-15 in the Northern Sun to place 6th in the NSIC North Division and 12th overall
CSP finished the regular season 18-10 overall and 14-8 in the Northern Sun to place 3rd in the NSIC South and 5th overall

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders split a pair of road games, falling 63-60 at Minnesota Duluth before upsetting St. Cloud State 87-82
The Golden Bears claimed a pair of road wins, defeating Southwest Minnesota State 86-63 and Sioux Falls 70-59

TOURNAMENT HEADLINES
The victor between the Marauders and the Golden Bears advances to the quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament
Winner of the NSIC tournament receives an automatic berth to the NCAA regional tournament
The Marauders are looking for their first NSIC tournament win since 2011
U-Mary finished 6th in the NSIC North and 12th in the NSIC overall for the second straight season
The Marauders seven conference wins is the most since posting seven in 2011-12
The nine wins overall for UM is the most since recording 23 in 2010-11
Marauders are 24th nationally in fewest turnovers/game (11.8)
Marquealis Edwards ranks in the Northern Sun top 23 in points, rebounds, steals, assists, free throw percentage and assist/turnover ratio

NSIC PLAYOFFS
The opening round of the Northern Sun tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 25. The top four teams in both the North and South divisions host. The first round winners advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday, March 1, at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. N1 (1st seed in North) MSU Moorhead hosts S8 Wayne State with the winner facing the winner between S4 Upper Iowa and N5 Minot State. S2 Minnesota State hosts N7 Minnesota Crookston with the winner facing the victor between  N3 St. Cloud State and S6 Southwest Minnesota State. S1 Augustana hosts N8 Bemidji State with the winner faces the N4 Minnesota Duluth and S5 Winona State victor. The N2 Northern State and S7 Sioux Falls winner will face whoever is left standing between the N6 Marauders and the S3 Golden Bears at 8 p.m. on Sunday March 2.

MARAUDERS NSIC POST-SEASON HISTORY
The Marauders are 1-5 in the NSIC tournament
The lone win was a 70-65 1st round home victory over MSU Moorhead on March 2, 2011. Anthony Moody scored 25 points with eight rebounds and seven assists. Eric Erdmann added 17 points and Jordan Wilhelm 12.
U-Mary has faced Winona State three times in the NSIC tournament, more than any other team

MARAUDERS NSIC PLAYOFF HISTORY (1-5)
March 1, 2008              at Winona State (1st round)                                    L 77-50
March 3, 2010      at Winona State (1st round)                                    L 76-57
March 2, 2011      MSU Moorhead (1st round)                                    W 70-65
March 5, 2011            vs. St. Cloud State (semi-finals)                            L 65-59
Feb. 27, 2013       at Winona State (1st round)                                    L 77-64
Feb. 27, 2014            at Southwest Minnesota State (1st round)            L 82-65

MARAUDERS NCAA PLAYOFF HISTORY
March 12, 2011     vs. Metro State (at Mankato, MN)                        L 78-73

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN BEARS
First post-season meeting between the two schools
Concordia-St. Paul has a 10-6 series lead over U-Mary
The Golden Bears have won the last four meetings
Concordia is 5-3 at home
The Marauders won the first two meetings between the schools in the 1980s when both were members of the NAIA
When U-Mary joined the NSIC in 2006-07, CSP won five straight meetings

Last Meeting Between Marauders and Golden Bears
 A second half power outage left the Marauders short in a 75-64 loss at Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 7, 2015. Down 38-37 after a high-octane first half, U-Mary shot just 33 percent after intermission and scored only 27 points. Led by Jaycob Velasco and Damonta Henry, the Marauders bench outscored the starters 43-21. Velasco hit five treys and scored 19 points. Damonta Henry was 4-of-6 behind the arc and chipped in 16 points. Edwards had nine assists and eight rebounds. Nuni Omot had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Bears.

THE OPPONENT: Concordia University, St. Paul
The most improved team in the Northern Sun, Concordia University finished fifth overall in the NSIC and third in the NSIC South this season after finishing 12th overall a year ago and last (eighth) in the South. Under first year head coach Joey James the Golden Bears are 18-10 overall and 14-8 in the NSIC. In 2013-14 Concordia was 8-19 and 5-17. James joined the Golden Bears after serving as the University of South Dakota interim head coach last season after 11 years as an assistant coach for the Coyotes... The Golden Bears have won three straight and 13 of 18 while playing solid defense. Concordia leads the NSIC in field goal percentage defense (40.7 percent), are second in scoring defense (68.1 PPG) and steals (7.0/game) and fourth in rebounding margin (+4.2)... Junior guard Cole Olstad leads a balanced Concordia scoring attack that features three players averaging double figure points. Olstad averages 13.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG, both team highs. He also shoots 82.3 percent at the free throw line. R-Fr. wing Nuni Omot averages 12.4 PPG and 5.4 RPG and shoots 57.7 percent from the floor. Terez VanPelt, a senior guard, contributes 10.7 PPG and 4.0 assists/game. A two-time All-NSIC second team selection, Van Pelt is the second all-time leading scorer in Golden Bears history with 1,520 points.  

REWIND
A late rally led the University of Minnesota Duluth to a 63-60 home win over the University of Mary last Friday. The Marauders had led for 32 minutes until Brett Ervin completed a 3-point play for a 55-54 Bulldogs lead with 4:06 left in the game. The play started a 7-0 run for UMD. Two Germain Decoste layups on both sides of a Jaycob Velasco basket pulled U-Mary within 61-60 with 49 seconds left in the game but two failed 3-point attempts left the Marauders short. Decoste led U-Mary with 18 points and 14 rebounds, both career-highs. Velasco added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Ervin scored a game-high 24 points for UMD and Pierre Newton had 11 points and 12 rebounds... U-Mary closed the regular season with an 87-82 upset win at St. Cloud State, the 9th ranked team in the Central region. The Marauders had six players in double figures and scored 52 points in the second half. Trailing 64-54 with 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Marauders went on a 30-12 run. U-Mary overtook SCSU on a Luke Scott trey for a 69-67 lead and never trailed again. Velasco led the Marauders with 16 points in 17 minutes. Damonta Henry hit 3-of-5 trey attempts and scored 14 points. Scott added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. The trio of Velasco, Henry and Scott led the Marauders reserves to a 40-13 edge in bench scoring over the Huskies. Decoste scored 14 points, Marquealis Edwards 13 and Chris Mason 10. Jordan Poydras led SCSU with 27 points in a game that had two lead changes and one tie.  

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT (FOR WINNING)
The Marauders have won six of their eight Saturday games in 2015.

BENCH BOOST
The Marauders bench has provided a huge scoring boost all season. The U-Mary reserves have outscored the opponents back-ups in each of the last five games, including a 40-13 edge in the season finale win at St. Cloud State. Two of the biggest reasons for the advantage are Jaycob Velasco and Damonta Henry. Junior forward Velasco is second on the team in scoring at 11.3 PPG and has not started a game this season. Henry, a sophomore guard, is fourth in scoring at 9.7 PPG.

DECOSTE THE DESTROYER
Senior forward Germain Decoste is playing the best ball of his life as his collegiate career winds down. He had reached double figures in points in four straight games, leading the Marauders to three wins. During this stretch he is shooting 65.0 percent from the field while scoring 14.0 PPG. Decoste posted career-highs with 18 points and 14 rebounds at Minnesota Duluth last Friday, his first double double of the season. Additionally he connected on 9-of-12 shots against the Bulldogs.  

VELASCO ON FIRE
Jaycob Velasco continued his tremendous play of late with another strong performance last weekend. The junior forward was one of two Marauders to reach double figures in both games. He scored 10 points at Minnesota Duluth and a team-high 16 in an upset win at St. Cloud State and has reached double figures in seven straight games. In the last ten games Velasco is averaging a team-high 15.7 PPG and converting 54.7 percent of his shots. Behind the arc he is clicking at 47.9 pecent (23-of-48). The transfer from Cosumnes River CC has now reached double figures in 11 of his last 13 games and 18 times overall. He averages 11.3 PPG and shoots 47.5%.

DIVERSIFICATION
Five Marauders are averaging 9.5 PPG for the season. Marqualis Edwards leads the way at 12.3 PPG, followed by Jaycob Velasco (11.3 PG), Bryan Jefferson (10.1 PPG), Damonta Henry (9.7 PPG) and Chris Mason (9.5 PPG).

STAT STUFFER
One of the top all-around players in the Northern Sun, junior guard Marquealis Edwards is 23rd in the NSIC in scoring (12.3 PPG), 13th in rebounding (5.5 RPG), 5th in assists (4.4 APG), 13th in free throw percentage (.784), 9th in steals (1.3 SPG), 8th in assists to turnover ratio (1.8) and 8th in defensive rebounds (4.5 RPG).

REJECTION COLLECTION
In two seasons at U-Mary, Germain Decoste has cracked the Marauders career leader board in blocked shots (since 1989). The senior forward has 43 career blocks, fifth place all-time. For the season the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is 10th in the NSIC with 0.9 blocks/game. He had 20 blocks last season in 27 games. In fourth place ahead of Decoste in blocks with 52 is Marc Musungayi (2012-14). The all-time school leader is Marc Hawley (1995-97) with 108... Decoste is also 8th in the NSIC in shooting percentage (57.1) and averages 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

CHANGE UP
After rolling with the same starting lineup of Chris Mason, Damonta Henry and Marquealis Edwards on the perimeter and Germain Decoste and Bryan Jefferson on the front line for the first five games of 2015, the Marauders swapped Alex Anderson for Henry in the win at Upper Iowa. It was the first career start for the senior guard, who has now started 11 straight contests. Henry has responded by providing the Marauders instant offense off the bench, scoring 91 points in the 11 games. U-Mary is 5-6 during this time period.  

CHARITY DISPARITY
In Northern Sun contests, U-Mary opponents have made more free throws this season than the Marauders have attempted. The Marauders have taken 319 free throws while foes have made 337. U-Mary is 219-of-319 at the line (68.7%). Opponents are 337-of-452 (74.6%).

NEW ROLE
Sophomore forward Bryan Jefferson made his first career start at Minot State and has remained in the lineup ever since. The Aurora, Ill., native has posted double figures in points in 13 of the 24 games he has played. He has led the team in scoring four times and rebounding nine while posting two of the team's four double doubles. Jefferson is second on the team in rebounding (5.3/game), scoring (10.1 PPG) and field goal percentage (.556). In the NSIC Jefferson ranks 5th in offensive rebounds (2.2/game), 11th in field goal percentage and 19th in rebounding.

MY PRECIOUS
Treating the ball like Bilbo Baggins treats The Ring, the Marauders refuse to turn the precious over. U-Mary averages just 11.1 turnovers/game, the 21st-lowest figure in NCAA Division II and 6th fewest in the Northern Sun.