SEWARD, Neb. – A Hastings squad still seeking its first GPAC win of the season played tight with the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team for nearly 30 minutes before the talent and weaponry of the home team took over. A 20-7 run in the second half gave the balanced Bulldogs control on their way to a 101-82 victory inside Friedrich Arena on Wednesday (Dec. 11). Sophomore Brooks Kissinger came off the bench to net a career-high 21 points and Brad Bennett curled in six treys on the night.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has won back-to-back GPAC home outings to move to 3-3 in league play (6-3 overall). Concordia and Hastings were two of the three programs that shared the conference regular season title in 2023-24.
“It took a while, but offensively we were finding the open guy,” Limback said. “I thought Tristan (Smith) and Noah (Schutte) were really good at kicking it out when a double team comes. Between them they had 15 assists. When your bigs are doing that you get long close-outs and the guards can feed off it. Brad Bennett got hit from three, and Stueve hit some shots. When we’re balanced like that scoring, it’s hard to guard. Brooks Kissinger off the bench, what a night he had.”
The Ashland, Neb., native Kissinger eclipsed his previous career-high of 16 points while burning the Broncos for 16 of his 21 points in the second half. A key sequence came roughly midway through the second half when the Broncos got within four (64-60) via a triple from David Hageman. Kissinger followed with a layup and the lead never dipped below six the rest of the way. The aforementioned 20-7 spurt was initiated by a bucket from Schutte at the 8:02 mark.
The Bulldogs owned a double-digit lead for the final eight minutes while shooting 54.7 percent overall (35-for-64) from the floor. Bennett finished with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep. Meanwhile, Kissinger canned all three tries from long range and Stueve went 3-for-4 from the perimeter. As a team, Concordia sank 16-of-35 (.457) attempts from beyond the arc and made 15-of-18 (.833) from the foul line. As part of his active night, Kissinger (6-for-8) from the floor filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds and three assists.
Said Kissinger, “I think it starts with defense. We’ve been emphasizing finding our identity on the defensive end. I think we were doing that for most of the second half. We came out second half really trying to get stops on defense … I just want to give glory to Jesus Christ. He gives me the opportunity to play the game I love at a school that’s so awesome.”
Following Kissinger and Bennett in the scoring column were Schutte (17), Smith (15), Stueve (14) and Hayden Frank (nine). Smith dropped eight dimes and Schutte dished out seven assists as the sugar was shared to the tune of 25 assists on the team’s 35 made baskets. Notably, Concordia held a 34-23 advantage on the boards and committed only nine turnovers.
With his 17 points on Wednesday, Schutte pushed his career total to 1,991, leaving him nine shy of becoming the third player in program history to hit the 2,000 mark. Schutte played in his 124th career game on Wednesday.
Hastings (1-8, 0-5 GPAC) boasts a legit star guard in DaRon Hall. He poured in a game-high 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the floor. As a team, the visitors made 28-of-55 (.509) shots from the field. The Broncos have a much different look after saying goodbye to all five starters from last season.
The play of the sophomore group on Wednesday was a major positive for Concordia. Said Limback, “That’s the maturation we’re trying to find. Those guys got some good time last year and got their feet wet. This year we want to see that next level. Certainly Brooks did that tonight. I thought Stueve had a good game last game and was solid again. There were some good moments throughout, and we need them to take the next step. Teams are going to key in on Tristan and Noah. We need guys to continue to do this.”
The Bulldogs will be on the road on Saturday to take on new GPAC member Waldorf (3-9, 2-4 GPAC). Tipoff from Forest City, Iowa, is slated for 3:45 p.m. CT. Concordia traveled to the same venue in November 2022 and came away with a 103-61 victory over the Warriors.