SEWARD, Neb. – Morningside simply has Concordia’s number. The Mustangs stampeded out of the gates by draining eight of their first 11 tries from 3-point range and built a second half lead as large as 16 points in the 2025 GPAC Championship Game. The 11th-ranked Bulldog Men’s Basketball team never could catch up while slipping, 87-77, inside a frenzied Friedrich Arena on Tuesday (March 4). Concordia appeared in the GPAC tournament title game for the fifth time in program history.
The only GPAC opponent Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad couldn’t solve all season was Morningside. Concordia will enter the national tournament at 25-6 overall.
“A lot of credit to Morningside,” Limback said. “We gave good effort tonight. They went on an unbelievable offensive spurt to start the game. I didn’t like our response. Mentally, at the free throw line, that’s usually how you can tell how locked in and how confident a team is. We started to get rattled, and we missed some key moments throughout the game … just things that are uncharacteristic of a team that believes and has that fight. Morningside had that belief for all 40 minutes.”
The best moments for the Bulldogs and their hyperactive crowd came just after the midway point of the second half. That’s when Concordia slashed a 15-point deficit to six (73-67) with a 9-0 run spurred by Zac Kulus. The Concordia Omaha High School alum started the surge by dropping a dime to Dane Jacobsen, resulting in a three-point play. Kulus then nailed a trey apiece at the 8:01 and 7:28 marks in inciting the loudest roars of the night.
The Mustangs (24-7) did not waver. The Bulldogs went scoreless on their next three possessions and fell back behind by double digits. An Aidan Vanderloo trey at the 4:01 mark made it an 11-point spread (80-69) and a dunk by Joey Skoff seconds later answered a bucket by Concordia’s Noah Schutte. The Bulldogs never pulled closer than eight over the game’s final five minutes. Morningside got it done all while Skoff played the final 8:43 with four fouls.
Defensively, the Bulldogs eventually found traction while mixing in zone and full-court pressure. The major difference came at the foul line, where the Mustangs went 18-for-23 (.783) and Concordia went 8-for-20 (.400). Morningside also got a starring performance from post Daniel Brocaille, who posted a game-high 28 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Skoff (13 points on 5-for-12 shooting) had a relatively quiet night by his standards. The Mustangs shot 50.0 percent (28-for-56) overall and 46.4 percent (13-for-28) from beyond the arc.
After being swept in the regular season by Morningside, Concordia (15-2 at home) believed this time would be different in front of the largest home crowd of 2024-25. The Mustangs spoiled the party by containing the seemingly superhuman Tristan Smith. The Elizabeth, Colo., native fought doubles all night while putting up 13 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Smith recorded a double-double in all three GPAC tournament games, proving himself as the league’s best player during both the regular season and postseason.
It was a fine evening for Schutte, who totaled 22 points (9-for-16 from the field), seven rebounds and five assists. Off the bench, Kulus netted 14 points on the strength of 4-for-8 long range shooting. In addition, Hayden Frank added eight points and six rebounds and Brooks Kissinger tallied nine points. Jaxon Stueve spent much of his night defending Skoff.
The Bulldogs had been a perfect 4-0 all-time in GPAC tournament championship games. Tuesday night’s clash marked the fourth time the program has hosted the conference final. The slow start and rough free throw shooting were difficult to overcome against red hot Morningside.
Said Limback, “We needed to settle in a lot sooner, but what a performance by Zac Kulus in the second half. That shows the stuff that we got in this team. The nice thing is we’re still playing … Our team fed off that (run from Kulus). Then Noah started to get going. Morningside is playing really well right now, and we just weren’t good enough tonight.”
On a statistical note, Schutte drew even with Matt List on the program’s all-time rebound list with 928 for a career. Schutte is also the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,291 points.
The NAIA has scheduled a national tournament selection show (via NAIA Network) for 7 p.m. CT on Thursday. At which time, the 64-team field and bracket will be unveiled. Concordia is hoping to hear its name called as one of the four remaining first/second round host sites that was not already determined. The 2024-25 Bulldogs will make the program’s 14th all-time national tournament appearance.