Men’s basketball offense shines in winning game against Midland

Photo description: Freshman Jaxon Stueve looks to protect the ball. 

Photo credit: Kayla Korb (photo from previous game)

Sower Staff

The Concordia Men’s Basketball team faced the Midland University Warriors Wednesday evening in Fremont winning 104-86.

The men’s team achieved their first conference win of the season after back-to-back losses against Morningside University (19) and Northwestern College (18). Concordia and Midland both looked for their first conference win of the season with the Warriors falling to Briar Cliff University, Dordt University, and Hastings College, but the Bulldogs’ dogged offense won the day.

The first half was an offensive dream for the Concordia team as they racked up 54 points in the first half alone. Junior Noah Schutte and up and coming freshman Lukas Helms went point for point in the half with Schutte shooting 12 points and Helms making 12. The Bulldogs had an incredible 62.1 percent field goal success rate and made seven of their 14 three-pointer shots.

The second half was much of the same with Concordia consistently holding a near 20-point lead over Midland as the Warriors were unable to come back from a dominant first half. Midland’s defense did step up a notch as they slightly decreased Concordia’s field goal percentage knocking it down to 55.3 and discouraged three-pointers with the Bulldogs making only four of their 13 attempts.

Schutte was by far the top scorer for the Bulldogs with a whopping 26 total points on the night. Fellow junior Tristan Smith and Helms also put up nearly 20 points with Smith scoring 19 and Helms taking 17. Schutte also excelled as a support for his teammates, garnering 15 rebounds and seven assists for the night.

The men’s basketball team is now 4-2 overall for the season with a 1-2 record in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The next game is at home against University of Jamestown on Dec. 2 with tip-off scheduled for 3:45 p.m.