SEWARD, Neb. – Quick starts to both halves were enough to provide the 12th-ranked Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team the cushion it needed on senior night (Feb. 19). Despite Noah Schutte’s late scratch, the Bulldogs shot 56.9 percent and took care of business with an 89-59 demolition of visiting Doane. One of seven fourth-year seniors recognized prior to tipoff, do-it-all star Tristan Smith powered home 19 points as he continues to state his case for GPAC Player of the Year honors.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad went 13-1 at home during the 2024-25 regular season. With one contest left prior to the postseason, Concordia ran its record to 22-5 overall (15-4 GPAC).
“A lot of credit to them. They played hard defensively,” said Limback of a tight opening half. “They sped us up, and I thought we got a little out of rhythm. Second half, we came out great. Tristan started scoring inside and Zac (Kulus) and Brad (Bennett) got loose from three. We really started opening it up in transition finally. It’s different with Noah getting injured in warmups. That’s a game changer, but I thought we came out and adjusted to that right away.”
To Doane’s credit, it brushed off a 15-2 deficit out of the gate and trailed by only four, 38-34, at the break. The Tigers would get no closer. The Bulldog lead ballooned back to double digits less than two minutes into the second half and then grew to 20 (62-42) by the 10:30 mark. As part of the surge, Smith stuffed an alley-oop off the dish from Brooks Kissinger. It was one of four senior day stuffs for the Elizabeth, Colo., native.
The talent and skill advantage of Concordia took over as the game wore on. The Bulldogs outrebounded Doane, 41-29, and got double figure scoring outputs from Smith, Elijah Gaeth (13), Jaxon Stueve (13) and Brooks Kissinger (10). The Ashland, Neb., native Kissinger made his first career start while taking the place of Schutte. Concordia also continued to play without two other key sophomores, though it hopes to soon welcome Hayden Frank back to the lineup. Gaeth added six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Twelve different Bulldogs registered in the scoring column.
Efficiency offensively has been a theme for the Bulldogs and so too has been its play on the defensive end while going 15-1 since late December. Doane (9-18, 4-15 GPAC) managed to shoot only 38.1 percent on Wednesday. The Tigers were paced by the 13 points and eight rebounds from Jack Wilson. Leading scorer Brady Timm was limited to five points.
Smith and Bennett have stood out as the high-impact on-court performers in the senior class. The group also includes the likes of Riley Hoetfelker, Brayson Mueller, Josh Puelz, Tony Tubrick V and Matt Weismann. The emotions haven’t fully washed over Tristan, who was joined on senior day by his parents, Lance and Michelle, and each of his siblings, including former teammate Gage Smith, a fellow member of the program’s 1,000-point club.
“It’s definitely surreal,” Smith said. “I think all the seniors would agree on that. It comes up quicker than you think. We got out there and we were talking about it as it kind of hit right then. It was a great experience. I’m glad we were able to get a win in dominant fashion.”
Said Limback, “This could be an emotional day for a lot of people, but we know there’s a lot of basketball left. It’s a special day that we get to celebrate with our families, but when you know you have good basketball coming up, I think the emotions aren’t quite as heavy. This is a special group to me. To do this on senior day and to honor those guys and the parents for all their support is awesome.”
The Bulldogs will close the regular season on Saturday with a trip to Yankton, S.D., home to Mount Marty (10-15, 7-12 GPAC). Tipoff from Cimpl Arena is slated for 3:45 p.m. CT. In the meeting that took place in Seward on Jan. 15, Concordia toppled the Lancers, 89-62. Mount Marty had Wednesday night off from game action.