Tournament ends for men’s basketball after loss to Louisiana State, 91-67
Freshman guard Brooks Kissinger (10) puts the ball up to the basket around a defensive opponent.
Photo credit: Kayla Korb (photo from previous game)
By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor
The Concordia men’s basketball team ended its National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament run Saturday with a 91-67 loss to the Louisiana State University Shreveport Pilots.
The first half pitted Concordia’s shooting talent against a defense adept at blocking and stealing. Shreveport’s fluid play style caused many of the seven turnovers in the half for Concordia as the Bulldogs were surprised by the speed and dexterity of their opponents.
The Pilots’ offense was as dynamic as their defense. They shot 67 percent from the field compared with Concordia’s 38 percent. Shreveport also had more rebounds than Concordia, going 20-13. The Bulldogs were left with a 21-point deficit at the end of the half with the scoreboard reading 55-31.
The Pilots shifted their offensive strategy to stallball for the second half. Shreveport maintained their offensive dominance as their shooting percentage hovered at 60 percent. Concordia failed to improve their percentage as well and only added 33 points in the second half.
Bulldog headlining juniors Noah Schutte, Tristan Smith and Bradley Bennett were unable to pull the Concordia offense out of their slump. Schutte and Bennett scored an uncharacteristically low 13 points apiece and Smith barely hit double digits with 11 on the night.
Freshman Lukas Helms, who had a big shot against Indiana University Northwest the night previous to help win the game, fouled out halfway through the second half and only recorded one point for the day.
Junior Joel Baker ended up being the best shooter of the night with a season high of 16 points. Smith led the team in rebounds with eight and assists with three.
The 2023-24 season ended for the Bulldogs with a final record of 24-8 overall and 15-5 in the conference. The women, meanwhile, will head to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa,after their 80-62 win over Wayland Baptist University.
