PRESCOTT, Ariz. – The Bulldogs faced their second opponent from the Grand Canyon state, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, on Saturday night (Dec. 21). Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball doubled the Eagles in points in the paint (52-26) which boosted the visitors to a 22-point victory (94-72). Tristian Smith (29) and Noah Schutte (24) teamed up for 53 total on 70 percent from the field.
With a 8-4 overall record, Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad will have one more shot to add a win in 2024.
“We felt like inside, we had the advantage,” said Coach Limback. “They chose not to double. Any time teams do that, we have to get the ball in to Noah and Tristian. They did a good job, especially in the second half of creating plays. It was definitely an emphasis to get the ball inside.”
The Bulldogs attacked the rack with 70 percent shooting (30-for-43) in two point attempts. Smith let his presence be known with five dunks on his 12-for-15 shooting. Schutte put up similar shooting in the area with 9-for-15 and grabbed 11 rebounds pulling out a double-double.
Limback said, “We came out of the gate playing strong and physical. Then we started to play softer and they turned it up a notch. Once we started playing off two feet and matched the physicality and the way the game was officiated, the second half was clearly better. Jaxson was hot from three but I thought defensively, we were solid as well.”
Up a couple of scores after the halftime speech, Concordia quickly increased its lead to double digits (55-44) on the back of Schutte and Hayden Frank layups. The Malcolm, Neb., native added a scoop and score totaling four swipes (game-high) and four assists in the 40 minutes.
Schutte went on an 8-0 heater, totaled 14 points in the 2nd half, capped by a Jaxson Stueve trey to put the Dawgs up 19 (74-55). Stueve, a sophomore out of Bellevue West, shot 5-for-6 from beyond the arc making five of the team’s seven treys.
CUNE shot 58.7 percent (37-for-63) from the floor topping the home team’s 44.4 (28-for-63). The Bulldogs took 37 off the glass compared to the Eagles’ 24. Smith (seven), Bradley Bennett (four) and Brayson Mueller (four) followed Schutte in rebounds.
Embry-Riddle (5-7) was led by Peter Dress (14) and Noah Gifft (11) in scoring. The Eagles dropped nine 3-pointers but at a 33.3 percent clip. The Arizona side will face Nelson University (Ariz.) on Jan. 2 in the new year.
Concordia (8-4) will be back in Seward to finish out the year against MidAmerica Nazarene University (5-8) on Saturday (Dec. 28). Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CT inside Friedrich Arena. The Pioneers and Bulldogs have only met three times with the visitors having a 2-1 advantage and a 65-60 win in the last game in 2019.