Second half spurt propels 11th-ranked Bulldogs to Cattle Classic win

By Jacob Knabel on Nov. 1, 2024 in Men's Basketball

VIDEO: Tristan Smith thrills crowd with spinning, two-hand dunk

SEWARD, Neb. – Noah Schutte, Tristan Smith and the vast majority of the reigning GPAC championship Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team got the band back together for day one (Nov. 1) of the 2024 Cattle Classic. In absorbing a strong push from dominant big man Joshua Van Gorp and visiting Central College (Iowa), the 11th-ranked Bulldogs eventually found their shooting touch and pulled away for an 86-69 victory inside Friedrich Arena. The lead ballooned as large as 20 points despite a 41-33 rebound disadvantage.

Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has high hopes for the 2024-25 season after reaching the NAIA national round of 32 a season ago. Limback sees areas for improvement heading into day two of the Cattle Classic.

“I thought they were the more physical team in the first half,” Limback said. “We needed to be better with our loose ball hustle. We talked about that at halftime. Shots weren’t falling in the first half. Second half we started to get some rebounds and run-outs. Their big fella is a load though. He’s a good player. I kind of felt like we had no answer for him tonight. They really played through him and gave us some problems.”

Concordia finally found some separation in the second half when it turned a five-point lead into a 68-50 advantage thanks to a 13-0 spurt that included a trey apiece from Hayden Frank, Brad Bennett and Jaxon Stueve. To their credit, the Dutch managed to get back within 10 (68-58) before the Bulldogs put together one final run to snuff out a potential upset. For good measure, Smith delighted the crowd with a spin move past Van Gorp for a thunderous slam in the final five minutes of action.

Reigning American Rivers Conference Player of the Year, the 6-foot-10 Van Gorp ruled the paint in impressive fashion. He went wild for 33 points and 15 rebounds while providing the Bulldogs some tough lessons regarding their interior defense. Van Gorp went 16-for-24 from the floor and grabbed nine offensive boards as the only Central player in double figures. The Dutch (17-9 last season) shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62 from the floor) but went only 2-for-15 from long distance.

Concordia simply had more firepower from an all-around team perspective. The All-American Schutte led the way with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Four Bulldogs tallied exactly 12 points: Smith, Bennett, Frank and Zac Kulus. Smith added five rebounds, three steals and two blocks to his stat line. After netting only two treys in the first half, Concordia drained nine in the second half. It shot 47.1 percent (32-for-68) overall. Thirteen of the 16 Bulldogs to see action registered in the scoring column.

Said Limback, “Zac Kulus got into a good rhythm for us today, and Hayden got going in the second half. Tristan and Noah kind of got theirs throughout. We feel like we have guys who can score and do stuff. The ball didn’t always move tonight, but I definitely feel like we have enough guys to make those plays.”

On day two of the Cattle Classic, the Bulldogs will take on former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan University at 4 p.m. CT. The Prairie Wolves are ranked 14th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll after reaching the NCAA Division III Elite Eight last season. The two sides last met in a regular season game during the 2015-16 campaign, Wesleyan’s last as a member of the GPAC. In Friday’s action, the Prairie Wolves toppled Hastings, 66-49.