MITCHELL, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan entered the New Year leading the GPAC in scoring defense, but the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team didn’t bother to notice. The dynamic duo of Tristan Smith and Jaxon Stueve were the ringleaders on a Thursday (Jan. 2) night when the Bulldogs blistered the Corn Palace nets in a 95-84 road win in Mitchell, S.D. Stueve did not miss a shot while rattling off a career-high 23 points. Smith later added an exclamation point with an alley-oop transition dunk as part of a monster second half.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad extended its GPAC winning streak to four and moved to 10-4 overall (5-3 GPAC). In doing so, Concordia picked up its second GPAC road win of the season.
“We had to adjust to how they guarded us,” Limback said. “First half, what can you say about the heater Jaxon Stueve was on? I thought they were good looks in transition, and we had some good kickouts to him. Second half, we kind of muddled through it. It was a big emphasis in the second half for Noah (Schutte) and Tristan (Smith) to attack and get to the free throw line. Dakota Wesleyan is just gritty defensively, but I thought we did some good things offensively.”
Rewarded as the GPAC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, the Bellevue West High School alum Stueve put together the best offensive showing of his career on Thursday. He got going with a layup in the opening minute and then proceeded to net a trey apiece at the 16:32, 14:29, 4:54, 3:08 and 2:32 marks of the first half. By the break, Stueve had already eclipsed his previous career-high of 16 points (versus Briar Cliff this season). The sophomore from Papillion, Neb., went 8-for-8 from the floor, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range, and 2-for-2 from the foul line.
As a team, the Bulldogs shot a surface-of-the-sun hot 67.3 percent (35-for-52) from the field. Stueve was joined in double figures by Smith (24), Lukas Helms (16) and Schutte (15). Smith (8-for-10 from the field) tallied 18 points in the second half and added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to his stat line. In addition, Elijah Gaeth dropped five dimes and Helms (one point off a career-high) collected four assists. By night’s end, Schutte pushed his career point total to 2,070.
After surrendering 18 offensive rebounds in this past Saturday’s blowout win over MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.), Concordia cleaned up its act on the glass and outrebounded the Tigers, 31-17. Schutte grabbed six rebounds and Stueve pulled down five boards. Rebounding played a part in turning a tight contest into a Bulldog lead as large as 15 points (88-73) in the waning moments.
Said Limback, “When we were making our runs in both halves, we would get rebounds and that would lead to transition. Rebounding was definitely a big key coming in tonight. I love the leadership in that locker room. You could see the game tonight was important. I know that even if they’re tired on Saturday, they’ll be ready to go.”
Now under the direction of Head Coach Kevin Williamson, DWU (11-4, 4-3 GPAC) saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. The Tigers were unable to keep up on Thursday despite shooting 52.7 percent (29-for-55) and making 10-of-21 tries from 3-point range. Four DWU players achieved double figures: Blaze Lubbers (21), Jakob Dobney (15), Samuel Aslesen (11) and Tampa Scott IV (10). The Tigers have dropped five of the past six series matchups with Concordia.
The Bulldogs will quickly turn around to host No. 11 Dordt (15-0, 7-0 GPAC) at 3:45 p.m. CT on Saturday. In this season’s first meeting held on Nov. 23, the Defenders flourished offensively in a 102-87 home victory over Concordia. Dating back to late in the 2020-21 season, the Bulldogs have won 50 of their last 55 home games.