SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team hits the road to face Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State for its final road trip in January.
 
The Games
Augustana looks to turn the tide of a recent skid in facing the Golden Bears on Friday at 7:30 p.m., a team the Vikings have 15-straight victories against. Augie then travels to Minnesota State on Saturday for a 3:30 tipoff in Mankato, Minnesota.
 
The Golden Bears
Interim head coach Eric Johnson was named to the post after a pair of exhibition games and has guided Concordia-St. Paul to a 6-10 record on the season while holding a 4-8 NSIC mark. Jordan Coblin leads the team with 18.6 points game while Cody Carlson tallies 13.1 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per outing. CSP holds a scoring margin of -2.8, scoring 75.2 points and giving up 78.1 per game.
 
The Series: Augustana leads 22-5 including 15-straight wins.
 
The Mavericks
The NSIC preseason favorites, Minnesota State is currently 10-8 overall and 8-4 in NSIC action after having won seven of its last eight games. Cameron Kirksey paces the Maverick offense with 17.9 points per game and is joined by Ryland Holt and Kevin Krieger in double figures at 14.2 and 12.0 points per game, respectively. Kelby Kramer ranks third in the NSIC with his 9.6 rebounds per game. MSU scores 77.2 points per game and gives up 71.8.
 
The Series: Minnesota State leads 63-58. The two squads split 2018-19 with the road team winning each time.
 
The Vikings
Augustana is 11-7 overall and 6-6 in the NSIC. The Vikings lost a pair of close games last weekend, a five-point setback to Northern State and a 10-point loss to MSU Moorhead. The Vikings welcomed back Matt Cartwright over the two games as the junior leads the squad with 13.8 points per contest. Junior Tyler Riemersma is second on the team with 13.4 points while sophomore Matt Todd tallies 13.1 points per outing. Sophomore Dylan LeBrun joins the trio in double-figure scoring with 10.2 points per outing.
 
Riemersma nearly averages a double-double as he grabs 9.8 rebounds per game. During NSIC action he does hit the double-double plateau with 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Both numbers are team highs.
 
Augustana is one of the nation's top rebounding teams, ranking ninth in the nation with 743 total rebounds while an +8.1 rebound margin places the Vikings 13^th in the country.
 
One Last Thing
Riemersma has three double-doubles in the Vikings' last four games. He started his current run with 23 points and 18 rebounds at Upper Iowa (Jan. 10) and followed with a 12-10 game at Winona State (Jan. 11). His latest double-double was a 20-point, 12-rebound effort against MSU Moorhead. He ranks 24^th in the nation with seven double-doubles on the year.