SEWARD, Neb. – In a zany year of GPAC hoops, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball has found itself in defensive slugfests and dizzying shootouts. This one was the latter. The Bulldogs stayed one step ahead of visiting Dordt on Saturday (Jan. 24) by sinking 16-of-32 attempts from 3-point range in a 94-88 victory defined by offensive firepower. Senior guard Zac Kulus equaled a career high with 21 points on an afternoon when both sides shot well above 50 percent.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad improved to 9-1 at home this season thanks to a two-win week inside of Friedrich Arena. Concordia stands at 15-7 overall (9-5 GPAC).
“That was an unbelievable game,” Limback said. “They took some punches. I think we took their best shot today. We gave them our best shot offensively. There were so many moments where we get the big shot and then we couldn’t get the stop. It would go back and forth. You talk about second half performances, we had Dane (Jacobsen) start the second half with a great spurt, and Zac Kulus was going the whole game. I’m really proud of how he played today. Hayden Frank keeps getting healthier and better each game. Brooks Kissinger gave us 40 minutes of taking care of business. He does so much for us.”
Both teams enjoyed leads as large as eight points on Saturday, but no single-digit lead was safe in this back-and-forth affair that featured 17 lead changes and nine ties. The Bulldogs and Defenders were locked in an 82-82 stalemate with fewer than three minutes remaining. Frank responded with a trey to beat the shot clock buzzer and Garret Johnson drained a long ball of his own, staking Concordia to an 88-84 lead it would not relinquish.
The Bulldogs did just enough on the defensive end. Still nursing a four-point advantage (90-86) in the waning moments, Concordia got a sprawling steal from Logan Wilson and a key defensive board from Johnson. Dordt shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) for the game and canned 13 treys, but it managed just a single free throw over the contest’s final two minutes.
A career 42.7 percent 3-point shooter, Kulus splashed in five treys (including three in the second half) on Saturday. Kulus also dropped five dimes while playing 33 minutes in one of the best efforts of his four-year Bulldog career. Due to injuries and sickness in the team, Concordia was unsure of what its starting lineup would look like a day earlier. Kulus was there when the Bulldogs needed him.
Said Kulus, “Next guy up. We’ve had that a lot this year with a lot of injuries. With Tate (Odvody) going down, I had to step up into that starting spot. I don’t care if I’m starting or off the bench, I’m just going to go out and do my thing. We’ve had the ‘next up’ mentality. That’s been a theme this season for us.”
One of Concordia’s question marks was Jacobsen, who left Wednesday’s win over Midland after playing just three minutes. He logged 34 minutes on Saturday and notched 11 points and five assists. Kissinger played all 40 minutes and posted 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Another of the day’s heroes, Frank poured in a season-high 18 points on the strength of four treys. Meanwhile, Johnson netted three 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs needed all of it to combat a 29-point outing from Dordt’s Connor Millikan. Jake Proctor added 23 points as the Defenders (11-10, 6-7 GPAC) nearly pulled off a season sweep of Concordia.
Said Limback, “Whoever paid money for today’s game got their money’s worth … We needed to do a better job on Millikan right away. He got it going and you could see them feeding off that. They’ve been doing this. They rebound the ball and they don’t turn it over a ton. We just made more plays in the last four minutes. That’s a good basketball team. If we can take the best punch of that team and still come out on top, that’s only going to make us better down the stretch.”
The Bulldogs will have a well-timed midweek bye as they rest up in preparation for next Saturday’s trip to Waldorf for a 3:45 p.m. CT tipoff in Forest City, Iowa. Concordia opened conference play with a 95-67 home win over the Warriors (5-16, 1-12 GPAC), In Saturday action, Waldorf fell by a 107-103 final score at Mount Marty.