
VIDEO: Brad Bennett drains eight 3-point field goals vs. Dordt
SEWARD, Neb. – While the snow fluttered outside, Brad Bennett kept raining threes inside. The Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team put together its most complete performance of the season to date while obliterating 11th-ranked Dordt, 99-72, inside Friedrich Arena on Saturday (Jan. 4). Bennett sniped eight treys and the Bulldogs shot 62.3 percent from the floor in a stunningly dominant outing. The high-powered Defenders were held to more than 20 points below their season scoring average.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has won five-straight within conference play while improving to 11-4 overall (6-3 GPAC). Concordia has triumphed in 51 of its past 56 home games.
“You could see our guys knew we wanted to change the outcome from the first time we played them,” Limback said. “They got us up there. We didn’t play well, and we knew it. This is a really good team, and we jumped on them early. Offensively, we started to roll. Brad Bennett – clearly he can get it going. It was a great team effort. We don’t do this if we don’t have good practices and a good locker room approach. I thought we caught them on a cold night, but there’s greatness in this team.”
So utterly in control, the Bulldogs led by double digits for all of the final 34 minutes and 48 seconds. Bennett drained a perimeter shot 12 seconds after tipoff and Concordia led 10-0 out of the gate. The advantage ballooned to 19 (50-31) at halftime and, just to ensure the Defenders had no hope of a comeback, Bennett canned two 3-pointers in the first minute of the second half. The senior guard from Elkhorn, Neb., finished with a game-high 26 points on his 8-for-11 marksmanship from long range. Concordia sizzled to the tune of 14-for-27 3-point shooting.
It wasn’t Bennett alone that carved up Dordt. Tristan Smith had his way in the paint and produced 21 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. His off-the-charts athleticism was on display with a coast-to-coast layup in the first half. Additionally, Noah Schutte supplied 11 points, four rebounds and four assists and Lukas Helms came off the bench to chip in 12 points and six rebounds. The game for freshman Elijah Gaeth (five points, five assists and five rebounds) continues to expand. Two days after going 8-for-8 from the floor at Dakota Wesleyan, Jaxon Stueve made his first shot (a three) and contributed five points, two assists and two steals.
Twelve Bulldogs registered in the scoring column and combined to give the home team a lead as large as 35 points. Any complaints on Concordia’s side are purely knit-picking. Said Limback, “We put together pretty close to a 40-minute game. This stuff shouldn’t surprise this team – maybe not this large of an outcome – but we have a lot of greatness in here … You have to keep Dordt out of transition and that was the biggest key in the first half. We were scoring and they weren’t. Our effort level was solid throughout each possession.”
Bennett helped set the tone on both ends. Not only did he rattle in eight treys, he chased around GPAC leading scorer Lucas Lorenzen (nine points on 3-for-10 shooting) on the other end. Concordia’s intensity yielded impressive defensive (40 percent shooting for Dordt) and rebounding (41-23 advantage) results.
The eight 3-point field goals for Bennett were one shy of Schutte’s program record for a single game. Joked Bennett afterwards, “He reminds me all the time.” Said Bennett of the team’s play on Saturday, “We knew it was a big game coming in, a game we wanted to get back after losing at their place. We came out and put a full 40 together and played as a team. It’s the best we’ve played all year.”
Dordt (15-1, 7-1 GPAC) got a team-high 16 points from Bryce Coppock. The only other double figure scorer was Ben Fairclough with 13. The Defenders won the first meeting with Concordia, 102-87, back on Nov. 23.
Notably, Schutte moved his career point total to 2,081. The program all-time record remains 2,099 points by former All-American Jon Ziegler.
The Bulldogs will venture to nearby Doane (8-8, 3-5 GPAC) on Wednesday for a 7:45 p.m. CT tipoff from the Haddix Center in Crete. Concordia owns a five-game series win streak and has triumphed in eight of the past nine matchups with the Tigers. In Saturday’s action, Doane upset No. 14 Morningside, 64-57, in Crete.