Men’s basketball faces loss to Morningside University in action-packed game
Photo description: Junior Noah Schutte shoots a free throw.
Photo credit: Kayla Korb (photo from previous game)
Jonas Sommerville
Sower Staff
The Concordia men’s basketball team lost to Morningside 101-89 in a game filled with high-paced action from both teams on Wednesday night.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair as Morningside took a 26-20 lead halfway through the first. The Bulldogs bounced back and went into the half only down by one, 45-44. Very little progress was being made defensively to shut Morningside down. Concordia also turned the ball over nine times in the first half, which halted momentum for the Bulldogs several times.
The second half also maintained the same offensive onslaught that was seen in the first half. The Bulldogs battled hard and ended up leading 65-64 with 10:44 left to play. Junior forward Tristan Smith got into foul trouble early in the half, so head coach Ben Limback decided to play the majority of the half in a 3-2 zone to try and stop the potent Morningside offense from scoring. However, Morningside continued to get offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities which propelled them ahead in the late stages to take home the victory.
Junior Noah Schutte led the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 points while also adding six rebounds. Tristan Smith was right behind him with 20 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Smith also recorded an impressive team-high five assists. Junior Bradley Bennett also added 18 points of his own, going 7-9 from the field and 4-6 from three.
When asked about his thoughts on the game, head coach Ben Limback stated, “It was a very up-and-down game. I felt like we just weren’t sharp execution-wise and had no answers defensively today. That’s a great veteran team and we got a lot of room for growth and a lot of young guys. Today we just didn’t have it defensively and they were sharp.”
The Bulldogs are now 3-1 on the young season and open Great Plains Athletic Conference play 0-1. They travel to Orange City, Iowa Saturday, Nov. 18 to take on Northwestern College at 6:45 p.m.
