Men’s basketball comes out on top with 91-76 win over Dakota Wesleyan Tigers

Senior forward Noah Schutte (12) dribbles the ball while teammate senior guard Bradley Bennett (33) tries to get open to receive his pass.

Photo credit: Maddy Peters

By Maddy Peters

Sports Editor

The Concordia men’s basketball team continued their renewed tirade around the conference with a 91-76 win over the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers Saturday afternoon in Friedrich Arena.

Coach Ben Limback’s squad has spent the week returning to the win column after their first loss in the new year to Northwestern College the week before. The team put up a 13-point win over Hastings College on Wednesday and now a nine-point win over Dakota Wesleyan.

“It was a good win, I mean that’s a really good basketball team,” said Limback. “I thought we played in spurts today. I didn’t think it was a consistent toughness on the defensive end. I felt offense was fine, but I didn’t think defensively we guarded consistently, but certainly a good win today.”

The teams went back and forth for the first ten minutes of the first half. Concordia led for part then Dakota Wesleyan another, but the Bulldogs came out on top with a 12-0 run to put the team squarely in front. Concordia ended the half with a 10-point lead at 41-31 to end the half.

The Bulldogs maintained and extended their lead through the second half with efficiency. The men had an 18-28 field goal ratio and made half of their 12 three-pointer attempts. By the time the clock ticked to 10 minutes, the team had a double digit lead that Dakota Wesleyan had no chance of stopping.

Limback’s plan of keeping the Tigers from getting down and dirty in the paint worked fairly well. Dakota Wesleyan was kept to a 12-28 field goal ratio in the first half and a 17-36 in the second.

“We wanted to keep them [Dakota Wesleyan] out of the paint, keep their guards from getting to the rim,” said Limback. “I thought we trapped their big guys fairly well.”

Dakota Wesleyan was unable to make their three-pointers at all during the game. They made 4-19 attempts throughout the whole game while Concordia was 9-17.

The usual culprits were at the top of the score sheet for the game despite a strong defense from the Tigers. Seniors Tristan Smith and Noah Schutte finished the day with 23 and 21 points respectively. Smith also led the team in rebounds with eight and assists with five.

“I think offensively we knew they [Dakota Wesleyan] would have to double Tristan [Smith] and Noah [Schutte] and I thought they scored it quick to the rim, I thought they scored it efficiently at the rim, but also made passes when we needed to get kicked out,” said Limback. “So I think there was a lot to the game plan, and we certainly executed it mostly.”

Sophomore Brooks Kissinger, the “BK Broiler,” as dubbed by Athletic Director Devin Smith, was no slouch in the game either with 15 points as well as six rebounds. Schutte had six rebounds as well.

The team is now 21-5 overall and 14-4 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The team next plays Doane University on Feb. 19 in Friedrich Arena for senior day. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.