
SEWARD, Neb. – Two 2024-25 national qualifying teams will meet on the hardwood on Saturday to tip off the 2025-26 season. A new-look Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team is slated to take on Graceland University in an afternoon clash in Lamoni, Iowa. The two programs combined for 50 wins last season. Head Coach Ben Limback enters his 13th season at the helm of his alma mater. The Bulldogs finished last season at 26-7 overall while reaching the second round of the national tournament.
This Week
Saturday, Oct. 25 at No. 23 Graceland (24-8 in 2024-25), 3 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Morden Center (Lamoni, Iowa)
Five quick hitters
· The 2024-25 season saw Concordia go 26-7 overall (16-4 GPAC), tie for second place in the league regular season standings and place as the GPAC tournament runner up. At the national tournament, the Bulldogs defeated Bethel College (Kan.), 79-76, in the first round before being toppled by 10th-ranked Baker University (Kan.), 80-65, in round two. The GPAC All-Conference award winners from that squad were GPAC Player of the Year Tristan Smith, Noah Schutte (first team), Brad Bennett (second team) and Jaxon Stueve (honorable mention). Among the honorees, Stueve is the lone returner in 2025-26.
· Limback has guided the program to the national tournament in four straight years and in five of the past six seasons. The deepest run for Concordia during that stretch came in 2022 when it advanced to the national quarterfinals.
· The Bulldogs averaged 86.3 points per game last season. The program’s leading returning scorers include Jaxon Stueve (7.8), Hayden Frank (6.9), Brooks Kissinger (6.2) and Zac Kulus (6.2). Noah Schutte used up his eligibility after breaking program career records for points (2,340) and rebounds (948). Meanwhile, NAIA First Team All-American Tristan Smith is now a member of the University of Northern Iowa program after he exhausted his NAIA eligibility.
· Limback’s record at Concordia Nebraska stands at 232-141 over 12 seasons. Limback has 21 total years of head coaching experience (357-299 overall record) having also spent nine seasons as head coach at Concordia University Ann Arbor. Ryan Tegtmeier enters his fifth season as Limback’s lead assistant. Joel Baker is the staff’s graduate assistant.
· New faces will factor into the equation for the 2025-26 Bulldogs. The varsity roster features a pair of NCAA Division II transfers in Luka Kokochashvili (Maryville University) and Tate Odvody (Colorado Christian College) and freshmen Peyton Brown, Jacob Duitsman and Garret Johnson. Additionally, sophomore Dane Jacobsen appears poised to step into the starting point guard role after playing in 30 games as a freshman last season.
The opponent
Graceland is led by former Mount Marty head coach Todd Lorensen, who enters his fourth season with the Yellowjackets. Lorensen steered Graceland to the 2025 national tournament in what marked the program’s second all-time appearance on that stage. NAIA Hoops Report has pegged the Yellowjackets as the team to beat in the Heart of America Athletic Conference while they also landed at No. 23 in the NAIA preseason coaches’ poll. Graceland returns Heart Player of the Year Cole Bowen, a 2024-25 NAIA Second Team All-American. This past season, the Yellowjackets averaged 76.7 points and shot 47.2 percent from the field. Their opponents averaged 70.0 points and shot 44.8 percent from the field.
Next week
The next road trip will take the Bulldogs to Tabor, Kan., for the Tabor Classic the weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Over those two days, Concordia will take on event host Tabor College and Wayland Baptist University (Texas).