SEWARD, Neb. – After securing a spot in the GPAC semifinals for the fifth consecutive year, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball will attempt to reach the championship game for the fourth time in seven seasons under the direction of Head Coach Ben Limback. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs won a grinder at home in the GPAC quarterfinals, 66-60, over No. 5 seed Dordt. Now Concordia must go on the road to face GPAC regular season champion Morningside in the conference semifinals. Tipoff from the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center in Sioux City, Iowa, is set for 3 p.m. CT on Saturday.
This Week
GPAC Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 25: Concordia def. Dordt, 66-60
--Location: Friedrich Arena (Seward, Neb.)
GPAC Semifinals – Saturday, Feb. 28 at No. 21 Morningside (22-6, 18-2 GPAC), 3 p.m.
--104.9 Max Country | Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center (Sioux City, Iowa)
--Admission: $10 for adults; $3 for students (K-College); GPAC students with ID are admitted free; season passed are not allowed (NAIA issued passes are allowed).
By the numbers
· In the official NAIA RPI released on Monday (Feb. 23), Concordia appeared at No. 70 while sporting a strength of schedule ranking of 84th (among 223 NAIA men’s basketball programs). In the latest bracketology from NAIA Hoops Report, the Bulldogs were listed as a bubble team currently outside the field of 64. Morningside (auto bid) and Northwestern are projected into the field from the GPAC. Concordia’s GPAC semifinal opponent, Morningside, is listed at No. 22 in the RPI (SOS of 61).
· When Concordia and Dordt met inside Friedrich Arena back on Jan. 24, the Bulldogs won in a track meet, 94-88. The contest on Wednesday represented a sharp contrast as the Defenders were held to more than 27 points below their season scoring average and committed 18 critical turnovers. Concordia finally find some offensive life in the second half after trailing by as many as 13 points on two separate occasions (44-31 and 48-35). A 26-9 Bulldog run made the difference down the stretch. Zac Kulus drained two clutch triples and Brooks Kissinger (game-high 23 points) and Dane Jacobsen (8-for-8 from the foul line) came up with key plays in the game’s defining moments. Dordt went scoreless on five of its final six offensive possessions and finished its season at 16-13 overall.
· The Ashland duo of Jacobsen and Kissinger has served as a reliable force throughout 2025-26. Both standouts are used to winning having come out of the highly successful Ashland-Greenwood High School program. With his 23-point outing versus Dordt, Kissinger reached the 20-point mark for the 20th time this season. Kissinger and Jacobsen are the team’s leading scorers with respective averages of 21.9 and 13.0 points per game. The breakout junior season for Kissinger has him on the cusp of reaching 1,000 career points (currently at 977). Among GPAC players, Kissinger ranks third in scoring average, fifth in rebounds per game (6.5), sixth in field goal percentage (.590) and 15th in assists per game (3.5). Meanwhile, Jacobsen has ranked as one of the league's top shooters, currently third in free throw percentage (.867) and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.450).
· Concordia placed in the top four of the final GPAC standings for the sixth time in seven seasons. During that stretch, the program has celebrated GPAC tournament titles in 2020 and 2022. The Bulldogs also finished as the conference tournament runner up in 2025 when they hosted Morningside for the title game. Concordia has reached at least the conference semifinals now for a fifth year in a row. Prior to Limback’s tenure (2013-14 to the present), the Bulldogs also won GPAC tournament championships in 2003 and 2005. During the 1990s, Concordia seized NIAC tournament titles in 1995, 1997 and 1998. Limback owns a career GPAC tournament record of 11-9. The program has qualified for the conference tournament for the 12th straight season.
· Ben Limback, now in his 13th season at the helm of his alma mater, earned his 250th victory as the Bulldogs’ head coach thanks to Wednesday’s result. Limback also won 115 games over nine seasons as head coach at Concordia University Ann Arbor, giving him 365 total victories in 22 seasons at the collegiate level. Limback owns the second most wins in CUNE Men’s Basketball program history, behind only Grant Schmidt, who went 445-276 across 23 seasons. Schmidt and Limback have combined to oversee all 14 of the program’s national tournament appearances (with the first one coming in 1991).
· The only way for the 2025-26 Bulldogs to guarantee a trip to the national tournament is by winning the conference tournament. The series of late regular season defeats complicated Concordia’s path to a potential at-large berth. On the plus side, the Bulldogs’ season résumé includes two wins over Northwestern (RPI No. 19), two close losses to GPAC regular season champion Morningside and wins over the top two teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings: Governors State (21-8 overall) and St. Francis (21-7 overall). Massey Ratings lists Concordia as the NAIA’s 30th best team with the 12th best SOS in the nation.
· The GPAC quarterfinals went chalk on Wednesday night as each of the top four seeds emerged victorious. In addition to Concordia playing at Morningside, the GPAC semifinals will include a Mount Marty-Northwestern matchup in Orange City, Iowa. Based on the metrics, Northwestern appears to be a lock for a national tournament bid regardless of the GPAC tournament results. On the other hand, Concordia and Mount Marty are attempting to become bid stealers. The GPAC tournament champion is awarded an automatic bid to the national tournament. Morningside is the reigning GPAC postseason champion.
Concordia Projected Starting Five
G – Jacob Duitsman, 6-3 (5.4)
G – Dane Jacobsen, 6-3 (13.0)
G – Brooks Kissinger, 6-3 (21.9)
G – Zac Kulus, 6-0 (10.3)
F – Jaxon Stueve, 6-4 (11.4)
Head Coach Ben Limback, 13th season (250-152 at CUNE)
The opponent
Ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA coaches’ poll, Morningside ran away with the GPAC regular season title while finishing with an 18-2 league mark (three games in front of second-place Northwestern). The Mustangs dug a 16-8 hole in Wednesday’s GPAC quarterfinals before roaring back to blow out eighth-seeded Hastings, 101-76. Caleb Dreckman led all players with 21 points and Danielle Brocaille reached 1,000 career points. Head Coach Trent Miller oversees a high-powered operation that averages 89.3 points per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Mustangs have locked up their fourth straight national tournament appearance under Miller (22nd national tournament appearance as a program). Morningside has had Concordia’s number, winning each of the past five meetings and eight of the last nine. This season’s regular season matchups went down to the wire with the Mustangs triumphing 91-87 in Sioux City and 123-115 (double OT) in Seward. Morningside is a perfect 13-0 on its home court this season.
Morningside Projected Starting Five
G – Alex Wilcoxson, 6-1 (16.8)
F – Daniel Brocaille, 6-5 (15.6)
F – Caleb Dreckman, 6-7 (16.6)
F – Kaden Van Regenmorter, 6-4 (12.2)
C – Tyson Odvody, 6-8 (9.9)
Head Coach: Trent Miller, 5th season
2026 GPAC Tournament
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 25
(1) Morningside def. (8) Hastings, 101-76
(4) Concordia def. (5) Dordt, 66-60
(3) Mount Marty def. (6) Briar Cliff, 74-73
(2) Northwestern def. (7) Dakota Wesleyan, 112-79
Semifinals – Saturday, Feb. 28
(4) Concordia at (1) Morningside, 3 p.m.
(3) Mount Marty at (2) Northwestern, 2 p.m.
Championship – Tuesday, March 3
Semifinal winners, time TBA