ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A jampacked Cardinal Fieldhouse 24 hours removed from an emotional court storming went quiet on Saturday (Jan. 25) as the evening wore on at the 72nd Concordia Invitational Tournament. The Bulldogs used a plus-18 turnover ratio and ownership of the boards in an 88-45 thumping of Concordia University Ann Arbor. Tristan Smith dazzled with another alley-oop slam and a windmill dunk in transition on his way to CIT MVP honors.
The result marked the 31st CIT title in program history. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad (17-4) has won 10-straight games and is ready to skyrocket in the NAIA national rankings.
“I think our guys were ready to go,” Limback said. “In an environment like this, the message is to come out and play our game and not worry about anything else. Jaxon Stueve got us off to a good start with two big threes and everybody settled in. We’ve got amazing leadership with Tristan and Noah (Schutte) and our seniors. I love the way we handled the game. Off the bench at the end, our guys were playing hard defensively.”
It was as about as dominant of a CIT as the Bulldogs have ever put together. The weekend included a 90-71 rout of Concordia Chicago on day one. On day two, CUNE flexed its muscles with a 13-0 run in the second half that took the air out of the balloon. In the sequence that put the contest away, the Bulldogs used full-court pressure to get layup after layup in transition. By halftime, CUNE had pushed its lead to an insurmountable 47-23.
Smith posted 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals while taking most of the second half off. On his birthday, Schutte tallied 12 points and seven rebounds and was tabbed CIT All-Tournament along with the MVP Smith. Brad Bennett added 12 points and a trio of steals. The bench carried the torch with 37 points, including six apiece from Brooks Kissinger, Zac Kulus and Tony Tubrick. In addition, Hayden Frank posted seven points, four assists and three steals.
CUNE shot 43.4 percent overall, but this performance was more about its stifling defensive effort. The Bulldogs have soared because of their tenacity on that end of the floor while faced with a challenging road environment.
Said Limback, “It was a great environment. You don’t get this a lot. We said to embrace the moment. I have a special place in my heart for Ann Arbor. I told our guys to compete with respect. It was a wonderful environment these guys will never forget. It was special to be able to get everybody into the game.”
The MVP award was a no-brainer. For the Concordias that were unaware, now they know. Smith has blossomed into one of the very best players in the country. Said Smith afterwards, “That was just an all-around team effort. We knew they were going to come at us with a zone. We don’t see a lot of that in the GPAC, so it took a little adjusting. We came out and set the tone defensively. We knew that was going to be our biggest impact.”
CUAA (6-14) had been looking to add to its four all-time CIT championships. Two of those were won during Limback’s tenure in Ann Arbor. The CIT All-Tournament honoree from the Cardinals was Jason Jergens. Colby Chapman paced CUAA with 12 points in the championship game.
A return to Nebraska will mean a return to conference play. The Bulldogs will make a visit to Midland (10-12, 5-9 GPAC) on Wednesday for a 7:45 p.m. CT tipoff in Fremont, Neb. CUNE won a competitive first matchup by a final of 89-78 back on Nov. 26 when the two sides met inside Friedrich Arena.
2025 CIT All-Tournament
MVP – Tristan Smith, CUNE
Jacob Collicott, CUC
Jason Jergens, CUAA
Logan Landers, CUW
Noah Schutte, CUNE