Men’s basketball defeats previous rivals Prairie Wolves, 74-57
Senior forward Tristan Smith (22) looks around an opponent for the ball.
Photo credit: Kayla Korb
By Kai Olbrich
The No. 11 Concordia University Men’s Basketball team took down their old conference rivals, the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves, in impressive fashion 74-57, thanks to some great offense and defense in the second half of play.
The final game of the Cattle Classic was set up to be a showstopper. Two top 15 teams in their respective divisions, the Prairie Wolves ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division III, and the Bulldogs No. 11 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The first half lived up to expectations with neither team taking a commanding lead. The Bulldogs had a lead of eight points with seven minutes to go in the first period, but the Prairie Wolves were able to claw their way back to bring the score within one at the break, 36-35.
The Bulldogs played good defense in the second half and got some help from a poor shooting performance from the Prairie Wolves who went 0-17 from three in the second half, down from 5-12 in the first.
Coach Ben Limback had a game plan going in and thought that their defensive prowess came up big in securing the win.
“We knew they were going to play zone the whole game,” said Limback. “I thought, you know, we’d handle just the ability to hit the high post a little bit more. But there were some good spurts in there. We had some good runs. Got to the free throw line, which is hard to do in the zone, but overall, the defensive intensity I thought was really what carried us throughout the game.”
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, stayed quite consistent in their three-point percentage throughout the game, 33.3 percent in the first half and 30.8 percent in the second. Their field-goal percentage, however, increased dramatically from 37 percent to 53.3 percent.
Seniors Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith led the offense for the Bulldogs, Schutte with a team-high 16 points, and Smith close behind with 12. Smith also led the team in rebounds with eight, as well as blocks and steals with three-apiece, including a monster denial with six minutes to go in the game. Senior Bradley Bennet added eight points to the Concordia total and dished out six assists to his teammates.
“They’re [Schutte and Smith] really important,” said Limback. “I mean, I think beyond just the scoring and the points and their ability to rebound, their ability to extend leads by getting to the free throw line and all these things that, you know, they’re the marked men every game and they get it done. But they’re also, you know, great teammates. And you know, I thought there were some good extra passes, some kickouts that they were making. So, yeah, you get two guys like that. It’s a pretty simple offense at times.”
Despite the heavy contributions from their star men, Limback made sure to give credit to the guys that come off the bench and work hard. Sophomore Hayden Frank had six points, two steals, and an assist. Senior Brayson Mueller had limited minutes but collected three rebounds and one steal in his seven minutes.
“I think Hayden Frank had a good weekend. I thought, you know, Brayson Mueller came in and did some really good things in his minutes and kind of ignited a little run. And that’s kind of our identity, I think is going to be which guys are going to hit and really extend things. And, we want to play a lot of guys. And, it’s one of those fun things to see guys, playing, you know, hard as they can and having that great intensity,” Limback said.
Schutte and Smith were honored at the end of the game as part of the All-Cattle Classic Men’s Team. Carter Glenn of Nebraska Wesleyan was also named to the five-man squad.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 9, playing host to Bethel College at Friedrich Arena. The game will tip off at 1 p.m.
