Bulldog Weekly Report (Oct. 29)

By Concordia University, Nebraska on Oct. 29, 2019 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athlete of the Week

Male: Brevin Sloup, Basketball

A senior from Seward, Sloup poured in a combined 41 points and added six rebounds, five assists and four steals as the Bulldogs opened the 2019-20 season with wins over Dakota State University and Sterling College. Sloup drained six of the team’s 19 3-point field goals versus Dakota State.

Female: Kylahn Heritage, Cross Country

A freshman from Nampa, Idaho, Heritage placed first among collegiate competitors at last week’s Mount Marty Invite by finishing the 5k race in 19:09.50. Her work helped 19th-ranked Concordia to its second team meet championship this fall.

2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Week
Oct. 22 – Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
Oct. 15 – Lane Napier (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Oct. 8 – Caleb Goldsmith (soccer) / Tara Callahan (volleyball)
Oct. 1 – AJ Jenkins (football) / Rebekah Hinrichs (cross country)
Sept. 24 – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Kendra Placke (golf)
Sept. 17 – Moises Jacobo (soccer) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
Sept. 10 – Carlos Orquiz (soccer) / Amie Martin (cross country)
Sept. 3 – Eduardo Alba (soccer) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)

2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Month
September – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)

News and notes:

20th annual Cattle Classic coming up Friday and Saturday: Year 20 of the Cattle Classic has arrived. The 2019 event will tipoff this Friday when the first of eight basketball games gets started at 1 p.m. CT. Head coach Drew Olson’s top-ranked women’s team will take on Simpson University (Calif.) at 6 p.m. on Friday and then No. 9 University of St. Francis (Ill.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, head coach Ben Limback’s men’s team will play Dickinson State University (N.D.) at 8 p.m. on Friday and Benedictine College (Kan.) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to bring canned goods in exchange for admission into the games. More details about the event can be found HERE.

Shooting sports program resumes season this weekend: Head coach Scott Moniot’s shooting sports program has not competed since the Hastings Bronco Invitational (Oct. 12-13), but will return to action this weekend for the ACUI Midwest Championship (Nov. 2-3) in Grand Island, Neb. It will be the team’s final competition of the fall semester. At the Bronco Invite, the Bulldogs broke school records in wobble trap (479) and skeet doubles (463). For more information on Concordia shooting sports, click HERE.

Defending GPAC champion baseball team keeps familiar routine intact this fall: The fall is an important developmental period for collegiate baseball programs around the country. Coming off a 2019 GPAC regular-season title, head coach Ryan Dupic’s baseball squad returned to the diamond this fall for five weeks of intensive practices and intrasquads. Led by veterans such as Wade Council and Jason Munsch, Concordia believes it has the makings of another conference contender. For a fall update on the program, click HERE.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its fourth year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2018-19 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is in his fourth season calling Concordia volleyball.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics is partnering with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. For more details on this change, click HERE. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Cross Country

  • After three idle weeks, both Bulldog teams returned to action this past Saturday at the Mount Marty Invite at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, S.D. Concordia claimed the title on the women’s side and placed ninth on the men’s side. The meet featured nine squads in both the women’s 5k race and in the men’s 8k competition. It marked the fifth official meet of the 2019 season for head coach Matt Beisel’s teams. For more on Bulldog cross country, click HERE.
  • It’s been quite a return to prominence for the women’s program, which is hoping to qualify as a team for the national championships for the first time since 2011. Currently, Concordia is ranked No. 1 in the GPAC and No. 19 in the NAIA. Prior to this fall, the Bulldogs had not appeared in the NAIA top 25 since 2015. Additionally, the ’19 Concordia edition has captured meet titles at the Dean White Invite and the Mount Marty Invite and has had three GPAC Runners of the Week.
  • In the 5k women’s race in Yankton, seven Concordia runners crossed the finish line in 19:50 or better. Freshman Kylahn Heritage earned the first-place t-shirt (placed behind only an unattached competitor) while clocking in at 19:09.50. Right behind her was teammate in senior Rebekah Hinrichs at 19:09.82. The Bulldogs had three of the top four runners in terms of scoring with junior Alyssa Fye coming in next in a time of 19:18.11.
  • The rest of the team’s top seven on the women’s side featured freshman Amie Martin (19:29.95; 11th), junior Sydney Clark (19:37.06; 19th), junior Lydia Cook (19:43.59; 21st) and sophomore Abi DeLoach (19:50.37; 24th). It all added up to a meet title in a field made up exclusively of NAIA squads. Conference competitors included Northwestern (second), Morningside (third), Mount Marty (seventh), College of Saint Mary (eighth) and Midland (ninth).
  • On the men’s side, Concordia was elated to beat our Morningside, which had been rated higher in the most recent official GPAC poll. The Bulldogs did so with the aid of two top-10 overall finishers in sophomore Wyatt Lehr (27:01.11; 9th) and junior Jordan Lorenz (27:04.68; 10th). Additional Concordia standouts to emerge from the 8k trail included freshman Camden Sesna (27:29.10; 15th), freshman Owen Dawson (28:12.54; 26th), freshman Antonio Blaine (28:20.33; 30th), junior Patrick Schneeberger (28:52.06; 39th and junior Christian Watters (29:25.40; 50th).
  • Dakota State (first) and Northwestern (second) were the only teams (both nationally ranked) to place above the Bulldog men. In addition to outrunning Morningside (fourth), Concordia also outpaced Midland (seventh) and Mount Marty (eighth). The Bulldog men entered the meet ranked No. 5 in the GPAC. Beisel called it an “outstanding day” for his group of guys.
  • Now the sole focus is on the GPAC Championships coming up a week from this Saturday (Nov. 9). It will be staged on the Dordt campus in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Bulldog women will enter the meet as one of the favorites alongside the host Defenders (ranked 21st nationally). If the women can pull off a title, it would mark their first conference championship since 2005. The men’s program last captured a GPAC title in 2012. The men have hopes of placing among the top four in the GPAC.

Volleyball

  • The true hallmark of a great team is evidenced in its ability to win on the road. The 2019 Bulldogs have made the leap and have figured out how to come out on top in GPAC away venues. Last week Concordia rallied from a deficit in the fifth set and clipped Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa, on Oct. 25. The next day, the Bulldogs cruised to a straight-sets win at Mount Marty. Those results leave second-year head coach Ben Boldt’s squad at 21-3 overall and at 10-3 in the GPAC (third place). For more on Concordia volleyball, click HERE.
  • The Bulldogs felt as though it was about time when they finally cracked the NAIA top 25 poll last week. As announced on Oct. 23, Concordia is ranked 17th nationally (the next NAIA poll will be released on Nov. 6). Prior to last week, the program had not appeared in the top 25 since the 2016 preseason poll. Its highest ever national rating during the GPAC era was 12th back in 2000. That Bulldog squad, coached by Becky Ernstmeyer, went on to share the GPAC regular-season title.
  • Concordia certainly had to earn its way into the top 25. The Bulldogs have done so by knocking off seven teams that were ranked at the time matches were contested. Based on the current poll, Concordia owns wins over No. 12 Corban University, No. 20 Dordt, No. 24 Midland and three additional victories over “others receiving votes” in College of Saint Mary (twice) and Morningside. The Bulldogs are actually ranked No. 5 in the NAIA by Massey Ratings, which lists their schedule as the 27th most challenging in the nation.
  • Twenty-win seasons have not necessarily been the norm in recent years. In fact, the current 21-3 mark represents the program’s best 24-match record during the entire GPAC era (2000-present). In the 11 seasons prior to 2019, Concordia reached the 20-win mark only twice (26-9 in 2015 and 20-12 in 2014). The 26 victories by the 2015 squad remain a GPAC-era best for the program. The ’15 team had an overall record of 19-5 after 24 matches and made it as high as 15th in the NAIA poll.
  • The Bulldogs trailed 9-6 in the decisive fifth set at Briar Cliff before coming through in the clutch. Concordia outhit Briar Cliff, .286 to .228, for the night (blocking was even at 10-10). Freshman Camryn Opfer knotted the score in the fifth set, 9-9, with back-to-back kills. The Chargers edged back in front at 11-10 before Emmie Noyd got going late. She swatted kills for three of the team’s five points. Kara Stark ended the night with a kill of her own. Opfer (19 kills, .405), Stark (16 kills, .278) and Noyd (15 kills, .343) each had big nights on the attack to help rescue Concordia.
  • Mount Marty did an exceptional job of limiting the Bulldog pin hitters in the final match of the weekend. However, the focus on the outsides left things wide open in the middle for the likes of Noyd and freshman Kalee Wiltfong. Noyd pasted 16 kills on 29 attacks (.517 hitting percentage) while Wiltfong swatted eight kills on 12 swings (.583). Wiltfong went off for five kills during the second set. Their success was spurred by junior setter Tara Callahan, who collected 88 assists over the weekend.
  • The Bulldogs’ attacking balance (aided by their improved passing) was on display last week as it has been all season. Five Concordia hitters have accumulated 145 or more kills on the season: Noyd (296), Opfer (221), Stark (194), Wiltfong (185) and Arleigh Costello (145). From a team perspective, Concordia has bumped last season’s figures of 12.37 kills per set and a .201 hitting percentage to 13.66 kills per set and a .244 hitting percentage. On the national leaderboard, the Bulldogs rank 11th in kills per set and 12th in hitting percentage.
  • The only teams within the GPAC that the Bulldogs have not beaten this season are the three remaining opponents on the regular-season schedule. In this week’s action, Concordia will host No. 8 Jamestown (22-4, 10-2 GPAC) at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday before also welcoming Dakota Wesleyan (19-9, 4-9 GPAC) to town for a 3 p.m. match on Sunday. A GPAC regular-season title may be out of reach with No. 1 Northwestern at 13-0 in league play, but the Bulldogs could put themselves in great position for the conference’s No. 2 seed with another 2-0 week.

Women’s Soccer

  • The results last week mean that Concordia will be in a fight just to qualify for the eight-team GPAC tournament. The Bulldogs settled for a 0-0 double overtime draw at College of Saint Mary on Oct. 23 and then dropped a 1-0 decision to Jamestown on Oct. 26. First-year head coach Chris Luther’s squad is now 4-10-2 overall and 4-4-2 in conference play. Concordia is tied with College of Saint Mary for eighth place in the GPAC. For more information on Bulldog women’s soccer, click HERE.
  • The program celebrated its senior day this past Saturday. The 2019-20 senior class includes Lindsey Carley (junior athletically), Becky Freeman, Jessica Knedler, Morgan Raska, Kaitlyn Sims and Morgan Raska. Those six seniors have helped the Bulldogs to a combined four-year record of 47-21-12 since the start of the 2016 season. The class contributed to the 2016 GPAC tournament title and the 2017 GPAC regular-season title. Carley is the most acclaimed having earned the 2017 GPAC Defensive Player of the Year award. Raska has also been a consistent contributor and has appeared in 66 collegiate games at Concordia.
  • It’s been a season long work-in-progress from an attacking perspective. The Bulldogs have been able to compete with many of the league’s top teams (three GPAC losses by 1-0 scores), but they just haven’t been able to put the ball in the back of the net with any regularity. Concordia has now been shut out 10 times this season. Despite scoring only 12 goals in 16 games, the Bulldogs have not lost a game by a margin of greater than three goals.
  • There’s still a feeling inside the program that a solid base of talent is in place. That has been evidenced best in the team’s overall solid defensive performances. Concordia has not conceded more than one goal in any of its past five games. In GPAC games only, the Bulldogs have surrendered eight goals. Within conference play, Concordia has been the third stingiest GPAC team in terms of goals allowed per game (0.8).
  • The contest at College of Saint Mary marked the fourth in a row that went to double overtime for the Bulldogs. Concordia went 1-2-1 in those games with the win coming at Briar Cliff, 2-1. In the matchup with the Flames, Carley made five saves to preserve the shutout. College of Saint Mary wound up with a 12-7 advantage in the shot count. Both teams registered one shot in the 20 minutes of overtime action. The majority of Concordia shots came from players off the bench with Aliyah Aldama and Freeman firing off two shots apiece.
  • The Bulldogs never recovered from the 17th-minute goal produced by Karlie Hintze in the loss to the Jimmies. Jamestown rode that goal out while stifling the Bulldogs, who had a couple of opportunities on corner kicks. Kaley Heinz and Michaela Twito both put a shot on frame, but that was it. The Jimmies outshot Concordia, 12-2. A win or a draw would have been a feather in the cap of the Bulldogs. Jamestown is tied for second in the GPAC at 8-2 in league play.
  • Mathematically, it’s still possible for Concordia to rise as high as fifth in the GPAC standings – or fall as low as ninth. Everything will be ironed out by the end of this week, the final one in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host Doane (5-8-1, 1-7-1 GPAC) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday and then travel to play Dakota Wesleyan (5-9-1, 2-8-1 GPAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Pairings for the conference tournament will be announced when all regular-season games are complete.

Men’s Soccer

  • With a roster that’s been a bit battered and beat up this season, the Bulldogs were happy to have a mid-week bye before returning to action over the weekend in a home tussle with Jamestown. The result was a 1-1 double overtime draw on Oct. 26. Head coach Jason Weides’ squad knew it no longer had a chance at a top-four placement in the GPAC even prior to the game. Concordia is now 9-4-2 overall and 4-3-2 in the GPAC (sixth place). For more information on Bulldog men’s soccer, click HERE.
  • Prior to kickoff with Jamestown, Concordia honored its senior with a special ceremony. The program’s senior group includes David Carrasco, Roger de la Villa, JD Dominguez, Carlos Ferrer, Evan Hayden, Matthew Ho and Miguel Munoz. The four-year Bulldog seniors have helped the program to a combined record of 46-19-9 since the start of the 2016 season. The 2017 squad remains the school record holder for most victories in a single season with 16. Ferrer and company also helped lead Concordia to GPAC tournament championship game appearances in 2016 and 2017. The current team spent two weeks receiving votes in the national poll.
  • After beginning GPAC play at 4-0, which inspired hopes of a conference regular-season title, things have unraveled a bit as injuries mounted at an inopportune time. Over the past five games, the Bulldogs are 0-3-2 and have been outscored 10-2. The losses came at the hands of teams that are each 8-1 in GPAC play: Hastings, Morningside and Briar Cliff. As it stands, it’s a four-team race for the conference championship with Midland (8-1-1) also in the mix.
  • Junior Garrett Perry is the only Concordia player to have found the back of the net over the aforementioned five-game stretch. Perry got on the board with the equalizer in the 53rd minute versus Jamestown. On that particular play, Perry first drilled the left post with a shot before heading in his own misfire. Perry has taken more shots than anyone on the team (25) and has now produced a career high five goals this season.
  • The Bulldogs have had to wait at least another week to record that elusive 10th victory of the season. While there have been some frustrations lately, the Bulldogs remain one of the GPAC’s most consistently solid programs. With one more triumph, Concordia would reach the 10-win mark for the ninth season in a row. Since the start of the 2011 season, the Bulldogs have a combined overall record of 99-54-19. Weides is the program’s all-time winningest coach with 116 career victories during a tenure that began with the 2008 season.
  • As mentioned, injuries have been an issue all season for Concordia. On a positive note, Ferrer returned to the lineup last week versus Jamestown. He ended up taking two shots. Ferrer is the program’s record holder for career assists (18). He has also notched 19 goals over his 69 games in Bulldog colors. On the down side, others such Eduardo Alba, de la Villa, Caleb Goldsmith and Joao Pedro Verissimo remain sidelined.
  • This will be the final week of the regular season. Concordia is already assured of a spot in the GPAC tournament, but can still jockey for positioning as perhaps the GPAC’s No. 5 seed. The Bulldogs will host Doane (3-11-1, 2-5-1 GPAC) at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday before heading to Dakota Wesleyan (2-10-3, 1-8-1 GPAC) for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. The GPAC tournament will begin with the quarterfinals on Nov. 6.

Football

  • Concordia had not experienced a blowout loss this season – until it met Dordt in Sioux Center, Iowa, last week. It marked the fifth year in a row that the Bulldogs have played at Dordt. This matchup wasn’t pretty for the visitors. The Defenders took advantage of a six Concordia turnovers, built a 28-0 halftime lead and won, 35-0. The defeat means the Bulldogs will have to win their remaining two games in order to record a .500 season. Head coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad is 3-5 overall and 3-4 in the GPAC (seventh place). For more on Concordia football, click HERE.
  • The Bulldog offense had not been lighting up the scoreboard, but it had managed to put up at least 10 points in each game this season prior to last week’s blanking. Concordia suffered its first shutout loss since enduring a 49-0 drubbing at the hands of eventual national champion Morningside last Oct. 27. The latest result dropped the Bulldogs to No. 77 nationally in scoring offense with an average of 17.8 points per game.
  • Concordia managed only 170 yards and 11 first downs at Dordt. It put together its best drive on the game’s final possession when it marched 53 yards to the Dordt eight-yard line. The Bulldogs eventually ran out of time with a Wyatt Ehlers incompletion occurring on the very last play of the afternoon. The lopsided score led to a pass-first Bulldog offense that attempted 33 throws compared to 21 rushes. Kemp was 9-for-24 for 89 yards with four of his tosses being picked off. Ryan Durdon ran seven times for 30 yards with a long of 17. Brady Fitzke caught three passes for 47 yards.
  • With the Concordia defense on the field for 89 plays last week, Durdon was not able to touch the ball as often as the coaching staff would have liked. However, Durdon did surpass a career milestone by eclipsing 2,500 rushing yards (now at 2,525). The Decatur, Texas, native also has exactly 3,000 career yards from scrimmage with his 475 receiving yards factored in. Durdon ranks sixth on the program’s all-time rushing list and has scored 22 touchdowns as a Bulldog.
  • Despite what the score showed, Concordia defense held up relatively well against the Defenders, who boast the NAIA’s top-ranked rush offense. Though Dordt held the ball for 38:28 in game time, it averaged a modest 4.3 yards per play (379 total yards). Additionally, its high-powered ground attack was held below 4.0 yards per rush at 3.9. The Bulldog D was given no favors in terms of field position. Four of Dordt’s touchdown drives covered 42 yards or less, including one of just 10 yards.
  • Junior safety Peyton Mitchell padded his GPAC leading interception total (ranked third nationally) by picking off a Noah Clayberg pass in the third quarter. The Waverly, Neb., native now has five interceptions with four coming over the past four games. Mitchell and the rest of the Concordia secondary have improved considerably from last season. The Bulldogs currently rank 26th in the NAIA in pass efficiency defense (107.7).
  • Through eight games, Concordia’s defense also ranks highly in many other key categories. On the national leaderboard, the Bulldogs check in at seventh in third down defense (25 percent rate), 10th in rush defense (99.3), 21st in scoring defense (17.9), 22nd in total defense (305.3) and 26th in fewest first downs allowed (128). The 35 points allowed to Dordt represented a season high for Concordia opponents. No other team has scored more than 27 points against the Bulldogs this season.
  • Concordia will play at home for the final time this season when it hosts Midland (4-4, 3-3 GPAC) on Saturday. It will be senior day at Bulldog Stadium, where kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs will attempt to avenge last season’s 35-7 home loss to the Warriors. Formerly the head coach at Concordia for eight seasons, Vance Winter now serves as Midland defensive coordinator under head coach Jeff Jamrog.

Women’s Basketball

  • Another season of high expectation is underway for the powerhouse Bulldog women’s basketball program. It counted as an exhibition on Oct. 22, but Concordia earned even more street cred by playing a double overtime game at Big East member Creighton University in Omaha. The Bluejays ultimately won, 85-83. In their official start to the season, the top-ranked Bulldogs blew out No. 12 Sterling College (Kan.), 107-50, on Oct. 25 and then eked out a 63-62 overtime win over No. 2 Southeastern University (Fla.) on Oct. 26. Both games were part of the College of the Ozark’s Classic in Point Lookout, Mo. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • Not surprisingly, head coach Drew Olson’s squad earned top billing in the NAIA Division II preseason poll following last season’s national title run. The Bulldog women’s basketball program’s 22 all-time No. 1 rankings includes the final nine polls of the 2002-03 season, the first four polls of the 2012-13 campaign, two polls in January 2018, six polls in 2018-19 and the 2019-20 preseason rating. This marks the third time that the program has been tabbed the preseason No. 1 (2012-13, 2018-19 and 2019-20). Concordia won its first-ever national title in 2019 after reaching the final game in both 2015 and 2018 in addition to semifinal appearances in 2003, 2005, 2012 and 2017.
  • Dazzling point guard Grace Barry proved that she belonged on the same court as NCAA Division I Creighton. She produced a line that included 26 points, eight assists, four rebounds, three steals and only one turnover in 41 minutes. Barry’s arrival via the University of Nebraska-Kearney last season was crucial to the Bulldogs’ national title run. Barry was named the MVP of the 2019 national tournament and was a second team All-GPAC choice.
  • All fifteen Bulldogs who traveled to Missouri scored points and made life miserable for the Warriors (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference), who were tagged with 43 turnovers. The Concordia bench combined for 74 points in an ultra-balanced attack. The Bulldogs’ top four scorers were all reserves: Taryn Schuette (12), Delani Fahey (11), Elsie Aslesen (10) and Rebecca Higgins (9). Together they helped Concordia devastate Sterling from 3-point range, where they were 16-for-35 (.457). Freshmen Taylor Farrell and Averie Lambrecht made their first-ever collegiate appearances in the win.
  • It may have been ugly offensively for most of the afternoon in the Concordia-Southeastern national title rematch, but the overtime session supplied some entertaining back-and-forth action. There were seven lead changes during the five-minute extra period. With just over a minute remaining, Grace Barry dropped in a floater for a 61-60 lead. The Fire quickly answered with a M’caela Sellers bucket. Philly Lammers then followed with the decisive step-back jumper before Southeastern came up empty with one more crack at it.
  • The Bulldogs were already dealt a bit of adversity last week when returning leading scorer Taylor Cockerill went down with an injury in the third quarter of the game at Creighton. She was then sidelined over the weekend. Concordia brings back three other starters from its national championship team: Barry, Lammers and Riley Sibbel. Those three were joined in the starting lineups this past Friday-Saturday by Colby Duvel and Mackenzie Koepke. Lammers (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Koepke (14 points, eight rebounds) had stellar games versus Southeastern.
  • Lammers and company will make their first home appearance of the 2019-20 season at the 20th annual Cattle Classic. The Bulldogs will take on Simpson University (Calif.) at 6 p.m. on Friday and then No. 9 University of St. Francis (Ill.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. St. Francis will not be the last ranked opponent that Concordia will play in nonconference action. It will also again play Southeastern (Dec. 20 in Lakeland, Fla.).

Men’s Basketball

  • The seventh season of Ben Limback’s head coaching tenure is now underway. The Bulldogs enjoyed a successful opening weekend (Oct. 25-26) at the Hastings College Classic. On day one, Concordia routed Dakota State University (S.D.), 93-60, behind 24 points from Brevin Sloup. Then on day two, the Bulldogs used an 18-4 run in the second half to boost them to a 74-69 victory over Friends University (Kan.). Concordia has won six season openers in a row under Limback. For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • With all five starters returning and plenty of key reserves also back in the fold, Concordia hopes to outperform its preseason slotting of eighth in the GPAC coaches’ poll. That is the same position the Bulldogs finished in last season when they went 15-16 overall and 7-13 within the conference. Concordia features a starting lineup with three players who each averaged in double figures in scoring in 2018-19: Sloup (16.4), Tanner Shuck (13.5) and Carter Kent (10.4).
  • Shuck currently sits at No. 23 on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,147 career points. That total puts him within range of his head coach. Limback is No. 21 on the list with 1,158 points. At some point this season, Sloup also figures to add his name to the 1,000-point club. He has 767 career points over 85 games as a Bulldog. His scoring average surged from 4.5 as a sophomore to 16.4 as a junior.
  • The records do not exist to know for sure, but Concordia’s 19 3-point field goals in last week’s season opener would likely rank very high on the program’s all-time list. Sloup was hot early against Dakota State and wound up burying six 3-point field goals in a contest that saw Concordia need less than eight-and-a-half minutes to build a double-digit lead. Nine different Bulldogs knocked in at least one trey in the stunning shooting performance. Concordia went 19-of-42 (.452) from downtown and led by as many as 38 points.
  • In addition to Sloup netting six treys (24 total points) versus Dakota State, newcomer Sam Scarpelli (3-for-6), junior Ryan Holt (3-for-4) and Kent (2-for-7) each drilled multiple attempts from long range. Sloup was the lone Bulldog to reach double figures, but he had plenty of help with Scarpelli and Holt contributing nine apiece. Shuck added seven and senior Chuol Biel had six. On the second day in Hastings, Concordia slipped to 6-for-22 (.273) from beyond the arc, but did shoot 48.2 percent overall.
  • Shuck and Sloup then put up 17 points apiece in the win over Friends. Sammy Adjei also added 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor. Biel contributed eight points and eight rebounds while Scarpelli and Justin Wiersema had seven points each. The defining stretch of this one came after Friends built a 51-44 lead at just under the 12-minute mark of the second half. An Adjei basket in the paint initiated an 18-4 run that flipped the script and provided a seven-point (62-55) Bulldog lead. Playing near his native Grand Island, Shuck capped that surge with a triple. Concordia never let the Falcons (0-2) get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
  • Next up is the 20th annual Cattle Classic this Friday and Saturday inside Walz Arena. The Bulldogs will play Dickinson State University (N.D.) at 8 p.m. on Friday and Benedictine College (Kan.) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Last season Concordia went 9-5 in home games, including two wins at the 2018 Cattle Classic.