SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball battled against No. 23 Morningside inside the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center on Wednesday night (Dec. 4). The Dawgs cut the Mustangs’ 15-point halftime lead down to one, but the home team always seemed to find a response in the 82-69 defeat of the visitors. Noah Schutte (20 points) and Tristian Smith (19) finished with over half of the team’s total on the offensive end.
After Morningside completes the series sweep, Concordia drops to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
“We weren’t hungry in the first half and that’s the disappointing part”, Head Coach Limback said. “Right now, we have to put actions to our words. We have guys in there that really want it right now and guys that are self-doubting or entering the game not sure. There is just not a toughness right now. In the second half, there was much better fight but you give a good team on their home court a 15-point lead, you are going to have to exude a lot of energy to come back. Noah was good offensively, especially in the first half. We are frustrated and we know we can be better. It starts with our approach and our toughness entering games.”
After nine first half turnovers and a 15-point deficit (45-30), the Bulldogs found life off of back to back scoring drives to break down the Mustangs' advantage. The visitors stormed back with an 8-0 run off a smith layup sandwiched between Hayden Frank and Bradley Bennett treys.
Following soon after was a 9-0 scoring stretch ignited from bench players Jake Hilkemann, Dane Jacobsen and Zac Kulus splashing back into the game with a one point edge to Morningside (60-59).
With under eight minutes left in the half, the home team would answer with an 11-2 winning drive. The run included five different Mustangs making a basket to put the game away late.
Schutte did the majority of his offensive damage in the first frame with 14 points (5-9 FGs) and seven total rebounds. Smith tallied seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Bennett (nine) and Frank (eight) followed in point, while Kulus grabbed six rebounds.
The Bulldogs finish shooting 45 percent (27-for-60) from the field, 25 percent (7-for-28) from three and 57.1 percent from the charity stripe. The visitors edged Morningside in rebounds (36-34) and points in the paint (36-32).
The Mustangs (8-1, 4-1 GPAC) gained 20 points off turnovers and shot 33.3 percent (10-for-30) from beyond the arc. Having five players hit double figures, the Sioux City side was led by Justin Sitti and Daniel Brocaille with 18 points apiece. MSIDE will visit Fremont next to compete against Midland this Saturday.
Concordia (4-3, 1-3 GPAC) returns to Friedrich Arena to face Briar Cliff (5-5, 2-2 GPAC) on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m. CT. The Chargers and Bulldogs will meet for the first time in the 2024-25 season.