SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball leaned on a seasoned Noah Schutte’s 20 points to overcome Bethel College (Kan.) for another win (89-79) inside Friedrich Arena. Closeout guarding and a pesky team defense led to 11 steals cashing in 26 points off turnovers.
The Bulldogs claimed their third consecutive victory remaining unbeaten moving into GPAC play.
“That’s a good team”, said Coach Limback. “There were a lot of wow moments and amazing plays. Then there were a lot of wow-bad moments. We have talked about consistency and having better focus. Again, you play to win but we have to get better in a lot of areas offensively. I liked our defensive pressure. Zac Kulus gave us good minutes off the bench. We talked about his (Shutte) poise after the game today. He doesn’t get sped up that often. He had some key big rebounds and free throws. He looked like a veteran today and we needed it.”
With an eight-point lead coming out of the break, Concordia went on a 14-4 pouncing and reached the game's largest lead (17). Schutte and Zac Kulus added baskets in the drive with the Bennington, Neb., native shooting perfect (3-for-3 FG) on the day garnering nine points.
Doubling the visitors (44-22) in the paint, the Bulldogs took advantage with the likes of Schutte and Tristan Smith (14) combining (11-for-23) for 34 points with every field goal coming from the two-point variety. Smith, out of Elizabeth, Colo., had a nasty one-handed alley-oop highlight as he stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
❗TRISTAN SMITH ❗
— Concordia Bulldogs (@cunebulldogs) November 9, 2024
Not surprised. pic.twitter.com/pP4NSt81rV
The Threshers answered with a 15-4 run of their own, cutting the lead down to six with five minutes left in the second frame. The visitors’ Reid Carter added six in the comeback and Nick Bonner paced his teammates with 15 for the contest.
Making 8-of-12 free throws pushed the lead back out to double digits and sealed the 10 point win late. Concordia made 21 total from the charity stripe plus shot 56.6 percent (30-for-53) in field goals and 53.3 (8-for-15) from 3-point land.
Schutte ended with four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while four more ended with eight or more points: Bradley Bennett (11), Jaxson Stueve (nine), Lukas Helms (nine) and Hayden secondhand (eight, 3-4 FG). Stueve (five assists), Bennett (five rebounds) and Brooks Kissinger (five rebounds) all added secondhand totals.
Bethel had four total in double digits: Bonner (15), Cade Kittrell (14), Carmelo Yakubu (12) and Carter Reid (12). The Threshers shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the field and 50 percent (8-for-16) from three. They will look to rebound against the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) on Saturday.
Concordia (3-0) will take on Morningside (3-0) entering the conference schedule on Saturday (Nov. 16) inside Friedrich Arena. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m. CT in Seward, Neb. The two teams went 1-1 versus each other taking wins on the road in the 2023-24 season.