SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Through two conference outings, the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team has struggled on the defensive end. The ninth-ranked Bulldogs surrendered 54.5 percent shooting to Dordt on Saturday (Nov. 23) and fell by a score of 102-87 in Sioux Center, Iowa. Concordia was unable to keep up with the Defenders despite a second-straight 30-point outing from Tristan Smith, who joined the program’s 1,000-point club on Saturday.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s program has opened league play at 0-2 for the second year in a row. The 2023-24 team rallied back to share the GPAC regular season.
“I thought we got off to a good start and then they went on a 16-0 run,” Limback said. “They’re too good of a team to dig a hole on. A lot of credit goes to them. They outran us in transition and made a lot of shots in the first half. We gave them a lot of open looks. We have to be better and have better attention to detail. I have to be better. Defensively, we have to figure things out and execute better. Right now we’re not trusting each other on that end. That’s a lot of our discussion right now.”
In a difficult place to play inside De Witt Gymnasium, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead with the help of a Jaxon Stueve triple just after the tip off. It was downhill from that point. The Defenders went on a 16-0 run and shot better than 60 percent from the floor in the first half while building a 56-41 lead at the break. The closest Concordia got the rest of the way was 10 (78-68) when Smith put in a layup midway through the second half.
The Elizabeth, Colo., native Smith poured in a career-high 34 points versus Morningside last Saturday and nearly matched that effort with 33 points at Dordt. Smith attacked the basket with his typical array of athletic layups and dunks while making 12-of-17 shots from the floor (and 9-of-12 from the foul line). Smith added 11 rebounds. Three teammates joined him in double figures: Noah Schutte (12), Brad Bennett (12) and Stueve (10). Zac Kulus added eight points off the bench.
Said Limback, “Tristan’s unbelievable right now. He’s a load inside. We have to find other ways to be balanced scoring-wise, but we’re not worried about our offense so much as we are about defending. That’s a really, really good offensive team. They were smoking hot in the first half. I thought we were better in the second half, but we dug too big of a hole.”
Like Concordia, Dordt brought back the vast majority of its team after qualifying for the 2024 national tournament. The Defenders (8-0, 2-0 GPAC) were led by the 30 points from Lucas Lorenzen and 25 from Connor Millikan. Star point guard Luke Rankin dished out eight assists. Lorenzen rained in six of the team’s 14 3-point field goals on the night. High-powered Dordt has reached 100 points three times this season.
Prior to celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, the Bulldogs will welcome Midland (5-2, 1-1 GPAC) to town for a 7:45 p.m. CT clash. It will be the lone outing of the week for Concordia, which has won each of the past 11 meetings with the Warriors.