NORTH NEWTON, Kan. – Brooks Kissinger and Derek Tonjes were a two-man wrecking crew, but it wasn’t quite enough in North Newton, Kan., on Friday (Oct. 30) evening. Host Bethel College (Kan.) stormed back from a 14-point first half deficit and upset the 19th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team, 81-74. Kissinger poured in 18 of his game-high 27 points after halftime. However, the Bulldogs struggled to slow down the Threshers, who drained 7-of-9 3-point attempts in the second half.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad went 1-1 on the season opening road trip. Concordia routed Kansas Wesleyan University, 89-61, on Thursday. It was not to be inside a lively Thresher Gym.
“When you're on the road and shots aren't falling, you have to find other ways to get possessions and impact the game,” Limback said. “There are a lot of things to learn from. There were some positives from the weekend, and it certainly wasn't all negative. We knew this was going to be a difficult weekend, especially tonight, but we just weren't the better team today.”
In playing on the road against a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference foe for the second straight night, the Bulldogs appeared on their way to another victory. They built a 38-24 lead late in the first half. The freshman Tonjes piled up 11 of his 23 points during that stretch. Once again, Concordia was at its best when forcing turnovers and getting to the basket. The Bulldogs held an advantage of 54-30 in points in the paint.
Perimeter shooting made the difference for Bethel, which overcame a minus-six turnover margin (15-9). The Threshers took momentum to the halftime break, splurging for an 8-0 run that slashed the Concordia lead to 38-32. Bethel later pulled even at the 13:20 mark of the second half and took its first lead of the game, 65-63, on Dominick Harris’ layup with 6:38 remaining.
The Bulldogs were burned by the duo of Rustan Griffen and Trenton Patterson, each of whom dropped 21 points while going a combined 8-for-11 from long range. They helped bulge the Thresher lead to as many as 11 points (77-66). Concordia managed to claw back within five on two separate occasions in the final two minutes. A national tournament qualifier in five of the past six seasons, Bethel sank 16 of its 21 free throw attempts to salt the game away.
Kissinger emptied the tank in his 34 minutes. He made 11-of-18 shots from the floor and snagged 14 rebounds (including six on the offensive end). His brother-in-law Tonjes has made a smooth transition from Ashland-Greenwood to the collegiate ranks. Tonjes finished with 23 points while also netting 11-of-18 attempts. Jaxon Stueve added six points and five rebounds. The Bulldogs went just 2-for-17 from 3-point range and 12-for-23 from the foul line. They shot 43.5 percent (30-for-69) overall and held a 40-34 rebound edge.
Said Limback, “When you get a team on the road down 14 points, you have to keep your foot on the gas. I thought we took our foot off the gas a little bit to close out the half … Derek did some really good things tonight. He was outstanding in moments. They were making 3s and building momentum in the second half, and then he would come up with a really tough finish. I thought he was really good. Brooks also did a great job keeping us in the game around the rim in the second half. Unfortunately, outside of those two guys, we couldn't get much else going offensively.”
Concordia’s home debut will take place during the 27th annual Cattle Classic scheduled for Nov. 6-7. As part of the food drive event, the Bulldogs will take on Maharishi International University (Iowa) on day one and Judson University (Ill.) on day two. More details about the Cattle Classic can be found HERE.