Bulldog Weekly Report (Oct. 30)

By Jacob Knabel on Oct. 30, 2018 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Cockerill, a sophomore from Waverly, Neb., enjoyed a monster opening weekend of the 2018-19 hoops season. She poured in 38 points in a win over No. 15 Indiana Wesleyan and then 20 more in a victory over Viterbo. Cockerill averaged 9.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 37 games as a freshman last season.

Male: Carlos Ferrer, Soccer

Ferrer, a junior from Tijuana, Mexico, scored a goal in a 3-1 win at Midland and assisted the golden goal in the 2-1 double overtime victory over Briar Cliff in last week’s action. With nine assists this season, Ferrer needs two more to break a program record. He also has five goals this season.

Previous Athletes of the Week
Oct. 23 – Josiah McAllister (cross country) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)
Oct. 16 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 9 – Kordell Glause (football) / Brynn Suddeth (soccer)
Oct. 2 – Zac Walter (football) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
SEPTEMBER Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 25 – Roger de la Villa (soccer) / Erin Lokke (shooting sports)
Sept. 18 – Lane Napier (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 11 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Sept. 4 – JP Verissimo (soccer) / Lauren Martin (soccer)
Aug. 28 – Garrett Perry (soccer) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)

News and notes:

Concordia to host 19th annual Cattle Classic Friday and Saturday: The 2018-19 hoops season is already underway for both the Bulldog men’s and women’s programs. Now they get set to host the 19th annual Cattle Classic this Friday and Saturday. The event, co-sponsored by Concordia and Cattle Bank & Trust, raises money and food for the Blue Valley Community Action's Food Pantry. Pac N Save of Seward will match all canned food donations. Canned goods will be accepted for admission. For more details and the complete weekend schedule, click HERE.

Wragge’s final collegiate season underway: The lone senior on the women’s basketball varsity roster, Quinn Wragge is ready to make the most of her final collegiate season. The native of Crofton, Neb., averaged 14.0 points and 3.0 steals over last week’s pair of wins at the Viterbo Invitational in La Crosse, Wis. She has been a first team All-GPAC selection in each of her first three seasons with the Bulldogs. For more on Wragge, click HERE.

Wrestling opens season Sunday: Levi Calhoun will make his official debut as Concordia’s head wrestling coach on Sunday when he leads his Bulldogs into competition at his alma mater, Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. Baker will be the host of the Dan Harris Open, which will get started at 9 a.m. CT on Sunday. In preseason rankings unveiled last week, Concordia landed six wrestlers in the GPAC ratings and three in the NAIA national ratings. The Bulldogs checked in just outside of the NAIA top 20 in the preseason coaches’ poll. For a season preview, 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 http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Men’s Soccer

The Bulldogs made a nice push in the final week of the regular season to move into position to host a quarterfinal game in the GPAC tournament this week. Concordia first went on the road and defeated Midland, 3-1, on Oct. 24 prior to claiming a 2-1 double overtime home victory over Briar Cliff on Oct. 27. Both opponents had entered the week above the Bulldogs in the GPAC standings. Concordia ended the regular season at 10-4-3 overall and at 6-2-3 in conference play (tied for fourth place). For more information on Bulldog men’s soccer, click HERE.
The victory over Briar Cliff helped extend two specific streaks for the program. Concordia has earned the right to host in the conference quarterfinals for the third year in a row. Additionally, 11th-year head coach Jason Weides has guided the Bulldogs to at least 10 wins in eight-consecutive years. During that stretch (2011-present), Concordia has gone a combined 90-49-16 with a GPAC tournament title coming in 2015. Its highest regular-season finish under Weides was a tie for second in 2017.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season by going unbeaten over their final seven games (5-0-2). However, they have certainly lived on the edge. Four of their past six games have gone to overtime. Concordia has gotten good results in its six overtime contests this season, going 3-0-3 in those instances. For the second Saturday in a row, the Bulldogs conceded a game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. Concordia has now played a total of 10 overtime periods in 2018.
Junior Roger de la Villa has twice emerged from those overtime games as the hero. With just 33 seconds left in double overtime versus Briar Cliff, de la Villa tapped the ball into the goal from just a couple yards out. He also produced the golden goal in a single overtime victory over Dakota Wesleyan on Oct. 13. The native of Barcelona, Spain, has taken over the team goal lead with eight on the season. De la Villa’s two-goal game versus Briar Cliff marked his first multi-goal effort as a Bulldog.
One of six seniors recognized on senior day over the weekend, goalkeeper Jack Bennett had his busiest day of the season from a statistical standpoint. He made 12 saves to help secure the victory over Briar Cliff. The only shame was the late goal that prevented Concordia from recording a clean sheet (only one shutout this season as a team). Bennett has battled injury this fall, but returned to start the most recent three outings.
Junior Carlos Ferrer continues to progress and consistently perform at a high level. He notched a goal in the win at Midland and assisted de la Villa’s golden goal versus Briar Cliff. Among GPAC players, Ferrer ranks fourth with nine assists this season. The native of Chula Vista, Calif., has registered either a goal or an assist in seven-straight games. His five goals on the season equaled a career high while his nine assists blow away his previous career standard of four in a season.
Tournament time has arrived. The Bulldogs hope to rekindle the magic they have had over the previous three conference tournaments when they have reached the championship game each season. Over the past three years, Concordia is officially 6-2-1 in GPAC postseason action with the tie being a PK shootout that went the Bulldogs’ way at Midland in the 2015 semifinals. Concordia also reached the semifinals in 2014.
As the No. 4 seed in the GPAC tournament, the Bulldogs will host fifth-seeded Midland (10-8, 7-4 GPAC) at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday. The winner will advance to play in the semifinals next Tuesday (Nov. 6) against either top-seeded Hastings (14-2, 11-0 GPAC) or eighth-seeded Doane (4-8-2, 4-6-1 GPAC). Concordia has met the Broncos in the postseason four years in a row with the last three matchups taking place in the championship game.

Volleyball

It could be argued that the Bulldogs just put together their best week of play since conference action began. Concordia kept its conference tournament hopes alive with a four-set home victory over Morningside on Oct. 24. Three days later, the Bulldogs nearly pulled off the upset before falling in five sets at No. 12 Midland. With one match left in the regular season, first-year head coach Ben Boldt’s squad stands at 14-11 overall and at 4-11 in conference play (tied for ninth place). For more on Concordia volleyball, click HERE.
The Bulldogs came up agonizingly close to claiming a signature GPAC victory last week in Fremont. They took a 2-0 lead (25-20, 25-22) and then served for a potential match point while leading 25-24 in the third set. The Warriors responded with three kills in a row to take the third before dominating the fourth and fifth sets. Concordia missed out on an opportunity to claim a win over a team owned a national ranking at match time since Nov. 7, 2015. However, the Bulldogs did defeat McPherson College (Kan.), currently ranked 18th nationally, on Sept. 8.
Concordia celebrated senior day prior to the win over Morningside. The Bulldogs concluded the home portion of their schedule with a record of 9-4 when playing inside Walz Arena. Concordia went 4-4 in its eight GPAC home matches and a perfect 5-0 in nonconference home tilts. The Bulldogs are also 5-0 in neutral court matches but 0-7 in true road matches. All seven of those away contests have come within conference play.
Senior Jenna Habegger played last week like someone who is not ready for her collegiate career to come to an end. On senior day, the Pawnee City, Neb., native put down 13 kills on 37 attempts from the outside. Three days later, she led the attack at Midland with 14 kills while hitting .400. From a statistical standpoint, Habegger is enjoying by far her best season as a Bulldog. Her season numbers of 232 kills, 3.07 kills per set and .232 hitting percentage all represent career highs. Her career kill total now stands at 530 in 235 sets played.
Boldt and his coaching staff have been putting more of an emphasis lately on setting the team’s middles, junior Emmie Noyd and freshman Morgan Nibbe. A native of Red Cloud, Neb., Nibbe responded in a big way versus Morningside. She notched a career high 14 kills on 26 attacks with just one error (.500 hitting percentage). She has shared time with Noyd, who continues to top the team with a .293 hitting percentage. Noyd recorded double digit kill numbers in both of last week’s matches.
The contest at Midland marked just the second time this season that Concordia has played a five-set match. The first resulted in a home win over College of Saint Mary on Sept. 4. Broken down by sets, the Bulldogs are 9-5 in straight-sets matches, 4-5 in four-set matches and 1-1 in five-set matches. Concordia opened the 2018 campaign by winning each of its first eight contests in three sets.
Habegger is actually the lone link left on the varsity roster to the 2015 squad that qualified for the opening round of the NAIA national tournament. The only other senior player on the current Bulldog roster is Kelsey Baarck, who transferred in via Mott Community College (Mich.). Baarck made significant contributions last week at Midland, delivering 10 kills (.316 hitting percentage). The team also has three senior managers.
The Bulldogs still have a shot at advancing to the eight-team GPAC postseason, but they have to come up with a win at Doane (13-15, 5-10 GPAC) on Wednesday (first serve at 7:30 p.m. CT). The Tigers emerged from Walz Arena with a four-set win over Concordia on Sept. 18. The quarterfinals of the conference tournament will be played on Saturday.

Women’s Soccer

The 2018 regular season is in the books for the Bulldogs, who made another push for a GPAC title. Unfortunately, it came up short due to an 0-1-2 finish in the final three games of the regular season. In last week’s action, Concordia tied No. 18 Midland, 1-1, in double overtime on Oct. 24 and then fell at home, 3-2, to Briar Cliff on Oct. 27. Sixth-year head coach Greg Henson’s squad will enter the postseason at 11-2-5 overall and at 8-1-3 in conference play (third place). For more information on Bulldog women’s soccer, click HERE.
A late penalty kick goal at Midland helped the Bulldogs maintain their run of unbeaten play in GPAC regular-season action. Concordia entered this past weekend having gone 22-0-4 over its previous 26 conference regular-season games. A stretch of more than two years without a GPAC defeat finally ended at the hands of Briar Cliff. A year earlier, the Bulldogs had defeated the Chargers handily, 5-1. Concordia had been gunning for its third unbeaten conference season under Henson’s direction.
From a national rankings perspective, many of the most notable results turned in this season by the Bulldogs have been ties. Based on the NAIA national poll released last week, Concordia has draws with No. 13 Hastings, No. 18 Midland and No. 21 MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.). The Bulldogs also have a tie with Kansas Wesleyan University (receiving votes nationally) on their résumé.
Lauren Martin did her part offensively while closing out a big senior regular season. She recorded her eighth and ninth goals of the season against Briar Cliff. Martin’s name appears all over the GPAC leaderboard. Among conference players, she ranks first in assists (16), second in points (34) and ninth in goals. For a good chunk of this fall, Martin has also been atop the NAIA national leaderboard in the assists category. She currently ranks fourth in the nation in assists with a total that stands as a program single-season record.
At this point, it’s still to be determined whether senior captain Maria Deeter will return to the field. She missed both of last week’s games due to an injury suffered in the 1-1 draw at Jamestown on Oct. 20. Concordia has been forced to adjust on the fly without the services of a central figure since the day her career began in 2015. Despite missing recent action, Deeter still sports conference ranks of second in points (34), fourth in goals (14) and fourth in assists (six). She’s a near shoe-in for a third first team All-GPAC honor in a row.
The statistics show that the Bulldogs became a more offensive-minded team in 2018 as compared to the 2017 GPAC regular-season championship squad. During last season’s 9-0-1 run in conference play, Concordia outscored its opponents 27-1. This year in 12 conference games, the Bulldogs outnumbered their foes, 47-11. During the stretch run of the 2017 regular season, Concordia won three games in a row by 1-0 final scores.
In terms of sheer number of goals, the 2018 Bulldogs will end up as one of the top attacking teams in program history. They enter the week with 63 goals scored over 18 games. That total ranks No. 3 in school history behind only the 2004 (80) and 2016 (67) squads. Since taking over the program, Henson has significantly improved the program’s offensive firepower. The season prior to his arrival, Concordia totaled only 33 goals in 20 games.
In the quarterfinals of the GPAC tournament on Wednesday, the third-seeded Bulldogs will host sixth-seeded Morningside (10-7-1, 8-4 GPAC) at 7 p.m. CT. The winner will advance to play either second-seeded Midland (12-1-3, 9-0-3 GPAC) or seventh-seeded Dordt (7-11, 5-7 GPAC) in the semifinals on Saturday. Concordia has reached the GPAC tournament title game four years in a row (titles in 2014 and 2016).

Football

It was a long afternoon in Sioux City, Iowa, on Oct. 27 for the Bulldogs. They managed only 26 yards of total offense and fell by a 49-0 final while up against top-ranked Morningside. Concordia still has yet to top the Mustangs since beating them in Seward in 2003. Second-year head coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad has dropped three in a row in conference play and is now 3-5 overall and 2-5 in the GPAC (tied for seventh). For more on Bulldog football, click HERE.
Morningside’s defensive dominance and Concordia’s offensive ineptitude really was the story last week. Concordia attempted 32 rushes and had minus-22 yards. Factored into that rushing output was 51 yards of losses that came on six Mustang sacks. Morningside left Ryan Durdon no room to breathe. He ran 21 times for seven yards with a long of 13. Prior to last week, Durdon’s lowest single-game rushing total of the season was 51 yards at Dordt.
From a positive perspective, it was another productive outing for sophomore linebacker Lane Napier. He collected 22 tackles, two for loss, a sack and a pass breakup. With a performance that equaled a career high in tackles, Napier moved to No. 1 nationally in tackles per game (14.6). He also moved past the program single-season standard for tackles during the GPAC era (2000-present). Napier’s 117 tackles this season surpassed the previous school record of 110 by Erik DeHaven in 2001. Napier has already piled up 214 stops in his career.
Most of the statistics from last week were not pretty, but the Bulldogs did do some things well on special teams. Durdon returned a kickoff 83 yards to set up a first and goal in the first quarter (Concordia turned it over on downs). Sophomore Lane Castaneda also had another nice day punting. He booted the ball 10 times for an average of 42.3 yards with a long of 54. Two of his punts pinned the Mustangs inside their own 20.
Daberkow has now started three different quarterbacks this season. Sophomore Blake Culbert became No. 3 last week. He was inserted into the lineup in hopes that he would provide a spark. It doesn’t get much more challenging than to make your first start at Morningside. Culbert went 5-for-14 for 50 yards with an interception. Sophomore Jake Kemp started the first four games of this season at quarterback before being sidelined by injury. Junior Andrew Perea then got the nod in the next three contests. The Bulldogs haven’t yet found a rhythm. They rank 80th nationally in pass offense (146.1).
Concordia is now faced with having to win its final two games if it is to extend a current active streak of six seasons in a row with at least five victories for the program. During that run, the Bulldogs have been right in the middle of the pack or higher. Since the start of the 2012 campaign, Concordia is a combined 39-32. The best season in that timeframe was a 7-3 mark and No. 19 final national ranking in 2016.
The tough day in the run game means Durdon is crawling towards 2,000 career rushing yards. He’s now at 1,988 with two games to go in the season. A dozen more yards will make him the seventh running back in program history to reach the 2,000-yard plateau. Before the season’s out, Durdon should pass Phillip Elder (2,027) for sixth on the school’s all-time rushing list.
It will be senior day on Saturday when sixth-ranked Northwestern (7-1, 6-1 GPAC) visits Bulldog Stadium for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff. The lone loss suffered by the Red Raiders came against Morningside. This year’s senior class is a small group headed by players such as Vincent Beasley, Kordell Glause, Caden Jameson, Parker Johnson and Grady Koch. In the most recent Concordia-Northwestern matchup in Seward, the Bulldogs eked out a 9-7 win in 2016.

Cross Country

The Bulldogs took this past week off after last competing at the Seminole Valley Stampede hosted by Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Oct. 20. Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads turned in place finishes of seventh out of 27 teams on the women’s side and 12th out of 23 teams on the men’s side. The meet was the fifth official one of the 2018 season and the final one before the upcoming GPAC championships. For more on Concordia cross country, click HERE.
With the results that have been turned in to this point, the Bulldog women do not appear to be in a position to earn an at-large berth to the NAIA national championships (the GPAC receives two team automatic bids to nationals). However, it’s been another year of growth for a team paced by Taylor Grove. In the NAIA national poll released on Oct. 10, Concordia cracked the “receiving votes” category. If the Bulldogs do not qualify for nationals as a team, Grove, freshman Abi DeLoach and junior Rebekah Hinrichs are all candidates to qualify individually.
Grove has been the top performer all season for a women’s squad currently rated as the fourth best team in the GPAC. In her latest effort, Grove galloped the muddy 5k course at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids in 19:26.6, which placed her 15th out of the field of 286 runners. On a faster course in North Sioux City, S.D., two weeks earlier, Grove clocked a time of 18:27.18. Now she turns her focus to the conference championships. She is poised to improve upon her 31st place conference finish as a sophomore (did not compete last year due to injury).
Twenty-five women represented the Bulldogs at the Seminole Valley Stampede. Grove was followed in the team’s top seven by DeLoach (19:57.0; 32nd), Hinrichs (20:00.03; 36th), sophomores Lydia Cook (20:38.9; 79th) and Alyssa Fye (20:42.1; 81st), junior Hannah Rebmann (20:42.9; 82nd) and sophomore Alyssa Bierwagen (21:13.8; 108th). For some Concordia runners, this was the last time out. The GPAC meet allows each team to enter a maximum of 10 competitors.
Like the women’s team, the men have also had a reliable senior as their frontrunner. Josiah McAllister paced the squad with a 17th place finish that was earned in a time of 26:40.6 in the 8k race at the Seminole Valley Stampede. McAllister has been the team’s No. 1 runner at every meet except for one. On the heels of McAllister, the men’s top seven featured the freshman Lehr (27:20.2; 48th), senior Thomas Taylor (27:22.0; 45th), sophomores Jordan Lorenz (28:28.6; 107th) and Christian Van Cleave (28:36.7; 121st), freshman Ethan Pankow (28:58.3; 135th) and senior Evan Asche (29:04.9; 141st).
This past meet, Grove and company managed to outkick Friends University (Kan.), a team that had appeared above them in the receiving votes category of the national poll. The meet featured a combined 13 men’s and women’s squads that were either ranked or receiving votes in the Oct. 10 NAIA coaches’ poll. Unlike many meets this season, Concordia did not see many of its conference rivals. There were four complete GPAC teams present on the women’s side and three that partook on the men’s side.
Beisel hopes his teams have saved their best for the conference championships. The Bulldogs are aiming to move up from their 2017 GPAC finishes of fifth on the women’s side and sixth on the men’s side. Experience will be much more of an ally than it was a year ago. Concordia returns nine of 10 women and eight of 10 men that competed at the 2017 conference championships. Those numbers do not even include Grove or McAllister. During the GPAC era (2000-present), the Bulldog cross country programs have won a total of six conference team titles (three men, three women).
Midland will serve as this year’s host for the GPAC championships, which are set for 10:45 a.m. CT on Saturday. The venue will be North Bend Golf Course in North Bend, Neb. The Concordia men captured a GPAC title in nearby Fremont in 2009. Competitors who earn bids to nationals will extend their seasons and run on the national stage on Friday, Nov. 16.

Women’s Basketball

The top-ranked Bulldogs are off and running in 2018-19 after opening up the new season over the weekend at the Viterbo Invitational in La Crosse, Wis. After knocking off 15th-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University, 81-68, on Oct. 26, Concordia dismantled host Viterbo University, 93-43, on Oct. 27. Concordia forced a combined 87 turnovers over the two victories. It was a strong showing to open up the 13th season of Drew Olson’s head coaching tenure. For more information on Bulldog women’s basketball, click HERE.
Guard Taylor Cockerill began her sophomore season in a big way. She dropped in a career high 38 points in the victory over Indiana Wesleyan. That total is the second most in a single game in program history behind only the 45 points scored by Bailey Morris against Northwestern in February 2014. Cockerill followed it up with a 20-point effort versus Viterbo to give her 58 points on the weekend. Over the two games, the native of Waverly, Neb., shot 19-for-30 (.633) from the floor, 4-for-9 (.444) from 3-point range and 16-for-20 (.800) from the free throw line.
Cockerill earned Viterbo Invitational all-tournament team honors along with teammates in senior Quinn Wragge and junior Grace Barry. A transfer from NCAA Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney, Barry made her Concordia debut over the weekend. She totaled 20 points, 10 assists, nine steals and five rebounds over the pair of victories. Barry has immediately been entrusted with the starting point guard role. Meanwhile, Wragge added 28 points, nine rebounds and six steals during the stay in La Crosse.
The ability to force turnovers has been a hallmark of Olson’s teams. The Bulldogs flustered Indiana Wesleyan into 38 turnovers before pestering Viterbo into 49 giveaways. The 2017-18 national runner-up squad forced an average of 24.4 turnovers per game with a high of 37 (also against Viterbo). Over the two wins last week, Concordia picked up 54 steals. Such defensive tenacity allowed the Bulldogs to attempt 50 more combined shots than Indiana Wesleyan/Viterbo.
Concordia is ranked No. 1 nationally for the 16th time in program history. The Bulldog women’s basketball program’s 16 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 and the 2018-19 preseason release. This marks only the second time ever that the program has been tabbed the preseason No. 1 (2012-13). Concordia continues to seek its first-ever national title after reaching the final game in both 2015 and 2018 in addition to semifinal appearances in 2003, 2005, 2012 and 2017.
Olson used the same starting lineup in both games in La Crosse. That starting group included Barry at the point, junior MacKenzie Helman at off guard and a frontline of Wragge, junior Philly Lammers and freshman Elsie Aslesen. Though Cockerill did not start, she actually played the most minutes (52 total) over the weekend. Cockerill, juniors Colby Duvel and Riley Sibbel and freshman Mackenzie Koepke all appear to be contributors in the rotation.
The home debut of the Bulldogs is coming up this Friday and Saturday at the 19th annual Cattle Classic. On the opening day of the event, Concordia will take on Peru State College (0-0) at 6 p.m. CT on Friday. The Bulldogs will then play 14th-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The start of conference play is coming up already next Tuesday (Nov. 6).

Men’s Basketball

The 2018-19 season got started in positive fashion on Monday night when the Bulldogs protected their home court with a 70-59 victory over Kansas Wesleyan University. It was a solid victory over a Coyote squad that has been picked to finish fourth out of 13 teams in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s team overcame 19 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds for Kansas Wesleyan to defeat the Coyotes in the season opener for the second year in a row. For more information on Concordia men’s basketball, click HERE.
The Bulldogs entered this season with a lot of uncertainty considering the departures of two second team All-GPAC selections from the 2017-18 squad that went 17-13 overall. The unknowns likely had something to do with Concordia being picked 10th out of 11 teams in the GPAC preseason coaches’ poll. The varsity roster features only four players who saw varsity minutes last winter.
The good news is that juniors Tanner Shuck and Brevin Sloup return to give the Bulldogs two dependable scoring options on the perimeter. The duo combined for 34 points in the victory over Kansas Wesleyan. Sloup led the way with 19 points while making the first start of his collegiate career. The Seward High School product now takes on a starring role after two seasons of coming off the bench. His scoring average should make a big jump up after it stood at 3.8 in 2016-17 and 4.5 in 2017-18. His career high point total for a single game was 21 against Oglala Lakota College in January 2017. He is a career 42.1 percent shooter from 3-point range.
Shuck, who hails from Grand Island, Neb., will certainly have the green light to stroke it this winter. In Monday’s outing, he went 6-for-14 from the floor (2-for-9 from beyond the arc). He has been a steady outside shooter for the Bulldogs (40.7 career 3-point shooting percentage) and is on the verge of becoming the program’s next 1,000-point scorer. He has totaled 720 points over his first 62 college games.
Limback stuck with a rotation of eight men in the season opener. Other than Shuck and Sloup, the returners in that group were sophomores Ryan Holt and Grant Wragge. Both got their feet wet in varsity games last season as freshmen. A native of Crofton, Neb., Wragge made nice contributions by chipping in seven points, six rebounds and three steals in Monday’s win. Meanwhile, Holt added two points and two rebounds.
Half of the eight players who saw action are brand new to the program. That list includes starters in transfers Zach Auguste (Scottsdale CC) and Chuol Biel (McCook CC) and freshman Carter Kent (Crete, Neb.). Freshman Tanner Wubbels (Waverly, Neb.) also saw significant action off the bench. All of them had an impact on the season opening win. Auguste put up nine points and nine rebounds, Biel electrified the crowd with a one-handed dunk, Kent knocked down a key three in the second half and Wubbels had a stat line of seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
Now it’s again time for the Cattle Classic. Concordia has a big test coming up on Friday when 25th-ranked St. Thomas University (Fla.) will challenge the Bulldogs in game set to tip off from Walz Arena at 8 p.m. CT. Then on Saturday, Concordia will host Barclay College (Kan.) at 5 p.m. The Cattle Classic will lead into the start of conference play next week.