SEWARD, Neb. – After spending most of the month of December on the road, Concordia University Men’s Basketball is currently in the midst of a stretch that features five home contests in a six-game span. The home cooking will continue this week as the Bulldogs will welcome Doane and Dordt to Friedrich Arena. GPAC play resumed after New Year’s as Concordia suffered an 89-79 defeat at Jamestown on Jan. 3 before rebounding with a 92-71 blowout of Dakota Wesleyan on Jan. 6. Those results leave Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad at 10-4 overall (5-3 GPAC).
This Week
Wednesday, Jan. 10 vs. Doane (7-9, 2-6 GPAC), 7:45 p.m.
--Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
Saturday, Jan. 13 vs. Dordt (11-4, 4-3 GPAC), 3:45 p.m.
--Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
By the numbers
· Each GPAC team has played either seven or eight conference games (out of 20 for the 2023-24 season). At 5-3 in league play, the Bulldogs reside in third place behind Hastings (6-1) and Morningside (6-1). The 17th-ranked Mustangs ventured to Hastings last week and came away with an 81-76 victory. One of the surprises of the weekend occurred in Yankton, S.D., where Mount Marty upset No. 13 Northwestern, 73-70. In Crete, the Briar Cliff-Doane matchup was notable in that it went to four overtimes. The Tigers outlasted the Chargers, 105-102. Suddenly, Jamestown is as hot as any team in the league. The Jimmies have won seven-straight games while knocking off the likes of Morningside and Concordia.
· The Bulldogs are proving they can score with the best of them. Entering the week, they boast NAIA national rankings of 17th in points per game (88.6), 20th in field goal percentage (.499) and 25th in 3-point field goals per game (9.4). Concordia paces the GPAC in scoring average and could challenge the 2016-17 squad’s program record of 88.7 points per game. Under Limback, the Bulldogs have averaged more than 80 points per game in three separate seasons: 85.8 in 2015-16, 88.7 in 2016-17 and 81.5 in 2020-21. The current squad has hit the 90-point mark in six outings with a high of 108 coming in the double overtime win over No. 19 Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.).
· Tristan Smith continues to take off in his third season as a Bulldog. He’s recorded double-doubles in three-consecutive games – 18 points and 10 rebounds at St. Ambrose, 20 points and 13 rebounds at Jamestown and 19 points and 11 rebounds versus Dakota Wesleyan. The Elizabeth, Colo., native is averaging career highs across the board: 19.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game. Among GPAC players, Smith ranks second in rebounding, fourth in blocks, seventh in steals, seventh in field goal percentage (.577) and eighth in scoring. The 6-foot-5 Smith has notched 626 points and 324 rebounds in 63 career collegiate games.
· Based on his scoring average of 21.6 points per game this season, Noah Schutte is on track to reach 1,500 career points by the end of this week. He will enter Wednesday’s contest with 1,460 career points in 97 games at Concordia. That scoring total places Schutte 11th on the program’s all-time list, just behind Ben Buhr (1,479) for No. 10. Schutte also continues to climb the rebounding list and is currently situated at No. 14 all-time with 578 career boards. The Laurel, Neb., native appears to be a shoo-in for another First Team All-GPAC award. In addition to averaging better than 20 points per outing, Schutte is averaging 8.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 58.5 percent from the floor, 37.2 percent from 3-point range and 81.0 percent from the foul line.
· The Bulldogs have good reason to be happy about the stretch of home games this month. Concordia has lit it up at home in 2023-24. Through five home contests (4-1 record), the Bulldogs have averaged 94.2 points while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from the foul line. Meanwhile, Concordia’s opponents have averaged only 79.4 points per game inside Friedrich Arena. The four home wins this season have all come by comfortable margins – 88-73 over Mayville State University (N.D.), 103-74 over William Penn University (Iowa), 99-78 over Jamestown and 92-71 over Dakota Wesleyan. The one home defeat came by a 101-89 score at the hands of Morningside.
· Limback has not been afraid to go deep into the bench. The roster includes 11 players who averaged at least 9.0 minutes per game. Only one player, Schutte (30.8), averages more than 30 minutes per outing. Others who see at least 20 minutes per contest are Smith (28.9), Brad Bennett (28.2) and Lukas Helms (23.1). Freshman Brooks Kissinger (16.9) sees the most action among reserves. Four Bulldogs have started all 14 games: Bennett, Helms, Schutte and Smith.
Concordia Projected Starting Five
G – Brad Bennett, 6-1 (9.1)
G – Jaxon Weyand, 5-11 (2.6)
F – Lukas Helms, 6-6 (7.1)
F – Noah Schutte, 6-4 (21.6)
F – Tristan Smith, 6-5 (19.0)
The opponents
Doane will carry some momentum into Friedrich Arena having won three-straight games, including the four-overtime marathon 105-102 home victory over Briar Cliff this past weekend. The Tigers are led by eighth-year Head Coach Ian McKeithen. His best season at the helm of the program came in 2021-22 when Doane finished at 19-13 overall (11-9 GPAC). The 2023-24 Tigers are averaging 72.8 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from 3-point range. Their opponents have averaged 71.9 points while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc. The headlining returner from last season is guard Brady Timm, who earned 2022-23 First Team All-GPAC accolades. Concordia swept the two meetings from Doane last season and has won six of the past seven series matchups.
Doane Projected Starting Five
G – River Johnston, 6-2 (11.2)
G – Brady Timm, 5-10 (16.8)
G/F – Caleb Hrabik, 6-4 (5.9)
F – Cooper Shelton, 6-6 (8.3)
F – Jack Wilson, 6-6 (6.7)
High-scoring Dordt returned three All-GPAC players from last season: Bryce Coppock (first team), Luke Rankin (second team) and Lucas Lorenzen (honorable mention). A 6-foot-4 sophomore guard out of Milford, Iowa, Lorenzen has upped his game in 2023-24 and leads the team with an average of 21.9 points per game. Head Coach Brian Van Haaften’s squad prefers an up-tempo style similar to Concordia. The Defenders are averaging 88.1 points per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from 3-point range. Their opponents are averaging 74.7 points while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 31.0 percent from beyond the arc. Dordt has had a particularly long layoff having been idle since Dec. 19. The Defenders will be at Jamestown on Wednesday before visiting Seward on Saturday. In last season’s Concordia-Dordt matchups, the visiting team won in both cases. The Bulldogs have won three of the past four series meetings.
Dordt Projected Starting Five
G – Bryce Coppock, 5-11 (17.3)
G – Lucas Lorenzen, 6-4 (21.9)
G – Connor Millikan, 6-0 (10.2)
G – Luke Rankin, 5-10 (11.0)
F – Ben Fairclough, 6-8 (7.0)
Next Week
After three in a row at home, the Bulldogs will be on the road on Jan. 17 for a matchup at Hastings. Concordia will then return to Friedrich Arena to host Briar Cliff on Jan. 20.