FOREST CITY, Iowa – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball remembered how it felt last season after leaving Forest City, Iowa, with an overtime loss. This time around, the Bulldogs took the drama out of it and walloped Waldorf, 97-69, in their GPAC opener on Saturday (Nov. 14) afternoon. Five Concordia players reached double figures as part of a 59.4 percent shooting performance as a team.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has moved to 5-1 overall (2-1 on the road). Earlier this week, the Bulldogs routed Ottawa University (Kan.).
“It's a much better feeling after this year than last year,” Limback said. “I think what happened last year definitely helped prepare us. This was also our first conference game, so I don't think we were taking anybody lightly. This is a team that's going to beat some people. Anytime you drive this far on the road, you need good leadership, and I give a lot of credit to our leadership. The guys were locked in, and I was really pleased with our mindset.”
An 11-0 run to open the second half turned a 52-39 halftime lead into a commanding 63-39 advantage. Hayden Frank capped the splurge with a triple. The senior from Malcolm notched 14 points and six rebounds for the contest. He was joined in double figures by teammates in Brooks Kissinger (16), Derek Tonjes (15), Dane Jacobsen (12) and Cal Kissinger (11). Twelve different Bulldogs registered in the scoring column.
All five wins have come by margins of at least 28 points for Concordia, which is feasting on the opposition’s mistakes. The Warriors were flustered into 21 turnovers, helping the Bulldogs build a lead as large as 35 points. The run of blowouts has allowed Limback to deploy the entire roster on a regular basis.
Said Limback, “We had some nice spurts in transition. I thought Dane opened up the game with some big transition attacks, and then the 3s started falling a little bit. In the second half, it was fun to see Hayden Frank get going. I thought guys were finding each other, and once we started hitting 3s and creating defense-to-offense opportunities with steals, that's when we really pushed the lead out. We were able to get a lot of guys in, which was fun to see. We'll certainly take any road wins right now.”
Jacobsen added seven assists and two steals to his stat line. Off the bench, freshman Colby Rautenberg chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds. Additionally, Jaxon Stueve posted nine points and four assists and Cody Hesser notched six rebounds and three assists. Concordia made 9-of-24 (.375) attempts from 3-point range but struggled from the foul line (12-for-22).
Waldorf (3-4, 0-2 GPAC) dealt Concordia a 96-89 overtime defeat last season. The Warriors were led on Saturday by 16 points from Conner Aldridge. Waldorf was limited to 39.3 percent (24-for-61) shooting in its home gym. The Warriors opened GPAC play on Nov. 3 with a home loss to Dordt.
The Bulldogs will now have a week to prepare for next Saturday’s matchup with Northwestern (4-2, 0-1 GPAC). Game time from Friedrich Arena has been scheduled for 3:45 p.m. CT but will likely be pushed back due to a potential home NAIA Opening Round volleyball match. An official announcement will be made early next week. Concordia swept the regular season from the Red Raiders last season before Northwestern won the meeting in the GPAC Championship Game.