Men’s basketball earns spot in the GPAC Championships with 67-61 win over Northwestern
Senior forward Noah Schutte (12) pushes past a defender to move toward the basket (photo from previous game).
Photo credit: Maddy Peters
By Isaac Dawson
Concordia men’s basketball defeated the Northwestern Raiders in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Semifinals this Saturday with a final score of 67-61.
Coach Ben Limback’s team showed less this time on the offensive side and stepped up to the plate in terms of defense and rebounds. Northwestern countered with a stronger game in the paint and gave the Bulldogs a tough time.
“We knew it was gonna be a physical battle from the first two games,” said Limback. “Defensively it was outstanding. We actually keyed in on the game plan really well. Offensively, I felt like we didn’t make threes and it really got to us. When you’re not making threes and they’re doubling your inside game, it makes it a little challenging. Thankfully we gutted it out and I told them afterwards, ‘when you win at this point of the year, usually it’s because of your defense and your rebounding’, and we did well on both of those things.”
In terms of their shooting game Concordia and Northwestern were almost shot for shot. The Bulldogs were saved by a few more field goals but otherwise matched the Raiders exactly for three pointers and free throws throughout the whole game. Concordia shot 23-54 field goals, seven threes, and 14 free throws. Northwestern fell behind in the first half by three field goals with 20-61 to lose the game to the Bulldog defense.
Another key factor in the Bulldogs’ win was their rebounds — 45 total to the Raiders’ 32. Senior Tristan Smith was the team leader in the stat with 16 to his name. Fellow senior Noah Schutte also put up a respectable six.
The first half was the most influential for Concordia’s game. Both teams were doing well under the basket and were neck-and-neck until the five minute mark when the Bulldogs pulled just ahead of Northwestern. It was a fast paced and very physical game with a high foul count, much to the chagrin of the crowd at several points when there were several calls they deemed unworthy or missed by the referees. Concordia ended the half with a buffer of nine points.
The second half was a true test of the Bulldog’s defense. Concordia held the Raiders back to only score three points over the Bulldogs’ 30 points. Quick ball movement on offense and pushing through all sorts of fouls led to a fairly close Concordia victory as well as a charged atmosphere. A series of free throws ended the game with a six-point lead for the Bulldogs at 67-61.
“We knew coming in it would be a physical game,” said Schutte. “They’re a big lanky team and they’re going to have their hands flying around and cause a lot of tip passes. We just gritted it out, made plays when we needed to, defensively we got stops when we needed to, and that carried us to the win.”
Concordia had three big hitters on offense. Smith led the team once more with 20 points and was closely trailed by sophomore Hayden Frank with 17. Schutte had 16 points to round out the double-digit scorers. Frank was also the team leader in assists with three.
“We out-rebounded them by thirteen, so I think that was a big key,” said Schutte. “They’re a heavy offensive team; they get a lot of offensive rebounds per game. Defensively just playing off the trap, we wanted to cut the cutters on the other side and create a little room inside and kick out threes. Maybe the shots weren’t falling all night but we got a lot of offensive rebounds and a lot of easy points inside because of that.”
Concordia is now 25-5 overall and next faces off against the Morningside Mustangs back in Friedrich Arena for the GPAC Championship game on Wednesday, March 4 at 3 p.m.
