Men’s basketball extends winning streak with 89-62 win against Lancers
Senior forward Tristan Smith (22) moves into a tangle of players to grab the ball for the Bulldogs.
Photo credit: Maddy Peters
By Cohen Carpenter
Concordia extended their win streak to seven in a row Wednesday night with a dominant 89-62 showing versus the Mount Marty University Lancers Wednesday night.
The win marked the eighth straight in Friedrich Arena where the Bulldogs haven’t lost a game since Nov. 16. In fact, that loss coming by the way of the Morningside Mustangs is the only loss Concordia has suffered all season in Seward.
With that in mind, it was clear from the get-go that 7-10 Mount Marty had their work cut out for them on Wednesday night in the dog pound. This was apparent at the conclusion of the first half which featured a 40-21 Concordia lead and a 22-0 Bulldog run lasting over eight minutes.
With 13:45 remaining in the first frame, junior Zac Kulus hit a three to start the run at 13-10. Senior Noah Schutte put the exclamation mark on the statement of dominance laying one up and in to put the Bulldogs up 32-10, an incredible showing from head coach Ben Limback’s squad.
“I thought in the first half, we were incredible defensively and forced a lot of turnovers,” said Limback. “Some of them were dead balls that hurt us offensively in transition, but they weren’t scoring. I think that our offense had a lot of turnovers itself, but that first half really set the tone and had a nice run there.”
The fun didn’t end in the first half, however, as Concordia’s big names continued to play lights-out well into the second half. Namely, senior Tristan Smith played like his hair was on fire, which is becoming a common occurrence.
Just coming off of being named Great Plains Athletic Conference’s offensive player of the week, Smith wanted to make sure was still in the running this week dropping 27 on 10-13 shooting from the field to go along with 10 rebounds and four blocks, leading the team in all three categories.
“[Smith] is in a rhythm right now,” said Limback. “The only thing stopping him is when I take him out of the game. On both ends, he just swallows guys up, he’s blocking at the rim, he’s scoring from the free throw line, off the dribble, kickouts. He just is doing a lot of stuff for us right now and it’s great timing too, because we’ve got another big one Saturday.”
Along with Smith, Schutte also boasted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, another strong performance from the Laurel, Nebraska native who recently seized the program’s all-time scoring record. However, Concordia’s stars were not the only Bulldog’s shining Wednesday night.
Kulus, with 18 minutes off the bench, notched the second highest point total of the night with 16 thanks to his effective three-point shooting, going 4-8 from downtown and 6-10 overall. Kulus also had a pair of assists and rebounds to boot.
“I think Zac does a good job of playing his speed,” said Limback. “He got us going early from the three-point line. We really needed to see something go in. He does a great job of shot faking and guys were finding him in the second half. He was a huge lift on the bench tonight.”
The next challenge for the Bulldogs will be Northwestern. At second in the GPAC with a 17-1 overall record, the Red Raiders pose a serious threat to Concordia’s eight game home win streak.
“This one was circled on the calendar for a while,” said Limback. “We have to get some rest with some guys and other guys need to stay sharp. We just need to play poised and prepare the next few days for a fun battle.”
Tip-off in Concordia’s Friedrich Arena will be Saturday, January 18 at 3:45pm.