SEWARD, Neb. – After a successful Thanksgiving week on the road, the Concordia University men’s basketball team will be back at Walz for some home cooking. A significant challenge awaits on Wednesday when fourth-ranked Morningside makes a visit to Seward. Sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad will then dip back outside of conference play to host Nebraska Christian College of Papillion, Neb., on Saturday.
This Week
Wednesday, Nov. 28 vs. No. 4 Morningside (7-0, 4-0), 8 p.m.
-Webcast: Concordia Sports Network
-Radio: 104.9 Max Country
Saturday, Dec. 1 vs. Nebraska Christian (3-5), 4 p.m.
-Webcast: Concordia Sports Network
-Radio: 104.9 Max Country
Now the trick for the Bulldogs (6-3, 1-3 GPAC) is to carry over what they have done outside of the GPAC into conference play. The résumé in nonconference action is impressive with Concordia having defeated two 2018 NAIA national tournament qualifiers: No. 25 St. Thomas University (Fla.) and Peru State College. The Bulldogs tagged Peru State with its first loss of the season this past weekend. In the victory, junior Tanner Shuck equaled a career high with 29 points while Concordia knocked down 12-of-26 (.462) attempts from 3-point range. Defensively, the Bulldogs limited the Bobcats to 33.3 percent shooting in the second half.
The win at Waldorf University (Iowa) on Nov. 19 marked the 200th in the career of Limback, who is in his 15th season as a collegiate head coach. He also guided the Concordia University, Ann Arbor men’s basketball program for nine seasons. During which, he totaled 115 wins. Limback is now 86-74 since returning to his alma mater prior to the start of the 2013-14 campaign. His high water mark for wins in a season was 21 recorded by the 2016-17 Bulldogs.
Concordia is a formidable team when Shuck and junior point guard Brevin Sloup are knocking down shots. Shuck is averaging 16.1 points while Sloup is just behind at 15.8. A Grand Island native, Shuck has totaled 850 points and 179 3-point field goals over 70 career games as a Bulldog. Third scoring options are still emerging in the form of newcomers such as Carter Kent (8.3), Chuol Biel (7.7) and Zach Auguste (7.2). Biel posted 11 points and seven rebounds at Peru State. He ranks 15th nationally in blocks per game (1.78).
Winner of both the GPAC regular-season and postseason titles in 2017-18, Morningside has backed up its top five national ranking up to this point. The Mustangs own wins over No. 10 Briar Cliff and No. 14 Bellevue University as part of their 7-0 start. Head coach Jim Sykes’ high-powered squad features plenty of balance with six players averaging more than 9.0 points per game. The leader is Tyler Borchers, who has averaged 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. As a team, Morningside sports national rankings of second in turnover margin (+6.9), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and seventh in field goal percentage (.529).
Nebraska Christian is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. The Sentinels have the ability to score having averaged 81.6 points through their first eight games. DJ Hanes enters the week averaging 30.9 points. He notched 47 points in a 98-97 loss to Dallas Christian College. Nebraska Christian will be at Emmaus Bible College (Iowa) before playing Concordia on Saturday.
Projected lineups
(Scoring average in parentheses)
Concordia (6-3, 1-3 GPAC)
G – Brevin Sloup, Jr., 5-9 (15.8)
G – Carter Kent, Fr., 6-2 (8.3)
F – Tanner Shuck, Jr., 6-4 (16.1)
F – Zach Auguste, Jr., 6-7 (7.2)
F – Ryan Holt, So., 6-5 (5.9)
Morningside (7-0, 4-0 GPAC)
G – Alex Borchers, Jr., 5-10 (9.1)
G – Brody Egger, Sr., 6-2 (11.3)
G – Zach Imig, So., 6-3 (12.9)
F – Matt Hahn, Jr., 6-3 (12.7)
C – Tyler Borchers, Jr., 6-7 (13.3)
Nebraska Christian (3-5)
G – Kyle Bohuslavsky, Fr., 5-10 (5.4)
G – DJ Hanes, Sr., 6-1 (30.9)
G – Devin Jones, So., 6-0 (8.5)
G – TJ Rivera, So., 5-11 (9.1)
F – Matt Lillquist, Sr., 6-8 (7.4)