Men’s basketball GPAC Championships end with 87-77 loss to Morningside Mustangs

Sophomore guard/forward Jaxon Stueve (14) watches his pass follow its trajectory (photo from previous game).

Photo credit: Maddy Peters

By Kai Olbrich

The Concordia Nebraska men’s basketball team was defeated in the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship game 87-77 at the hands of the Morningside Mustangs on March 4.

The Bulldogs suffered from poor shooting throughout the game, especially from the free-throw line. In the first half Concordia shot just 3-10 from the line and finished the game 8-20.

The game started close with senior Tristan Smith getting a fast break dunk early on. The Mustangs, however, shot off a slew of three-pointers to put them on top. Morningside was able to take a 10-point, 50-40 lead into halftime.

Coach Ben Limback credited Morningside with an excellent defensive performance but also believes that the Bulldogs made some errors on the free-throw line.

“Yeah, I thought just defensively they came out and were really hot and, and I thought we were matching it at times, but then all of a sudden, you know, we missed a lot of free throws in the first half and second half. And that’s something we just can’t do in a high-scoring game,” Limback said.

The missed foul shots were part of a theme of sloppy plays from the Bulldogs. Whether it be missing high-percentage shots or losing the ball in transition, coach Limback did not see enough confidence to get them over the line.

“Yeah, we just had some uncharacteristic finishes in transition,” Limback said. “We had some moments where we could have, you know, cut down on the lead and got the stops we needed, and then we just couldn’t convert it, you know, in a timely fashion. But, you know, it’s just it’s one of those where I felt like mentally, we just didn’t believe and have confidence throughout the game. And that’s an important thing that we’re playing against a team that’s got a lot of seniors and upperclassmen.”

The Bulldogs fell to a 16-point deficit multiple times throughout the second half, and it appeared that the game was over prematurely. Junior Zac Kulus, however, unleashed a barrage of three three-points in the span of three minutes to cut the deficit down to six. While it wasn’t quite enough in the end, Limback was full of praise for Zulus and his effort.

“I thought in the second half Zac, who was unbelievable, kept us in it and made a nice run,” he said. “We started to play better defensively. But it just wasn’t good enough tonight.”

Despite the unfortunate end to the GPAC season, Limback still believes that his team is a force offensively and is ready to take on the national tournament.

“Yeah, I mean this team’s unbelievable offensively,” Limback said. “And so we got to experience, the last two games, Northwestern and now Morningside. Playing two national tournament-level teams and seeing what it’s going to take to get the job done. And so a lot of lessons and then at least we get another game after this.”

Senior Noah Schutte led the team in scoring with 22. Smith led in rebounds with 15, assists with seven, and blocks with three. Kulus impressed going 4-8 from behind the arc. The team shot 45.3 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from three.

In recognition of their season as a whole, four Bulldogs were selected for GPAC honors. Smith was named the GPAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Schutte was given all-conference first team, senior Bradley Bennett earned second-team honors, and sophomore Jaxon Stueve was given honorable mention.

The Bulldogs now have a 26-5 overall record. Concordia missed out on a GPAC automatic qualifying bid, but it will still play in the national tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m. CT.