SEWARD, Neb. – In bouncing back from a shootout loss at Morningside earlier in the week, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball grinded out a physical dogfight over Briar Cliff, 72-64, inside Friedrich Arena on Saturday (Jan. 10). The Bulldogs held the Chargers to 39.0 percent shooting on an afternoon when buckets in the paint came with a dose of punishment. Brooks Kissinger led all scorers with 19 points.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad improved to 13-5 overall (7-3 GPAC). Concordia is a spotless 7-0 at home this season.
“The (defensive performance) was a lot better,” Limback said. “I felt like the effort was good. We did a good job on their big guy – he just hurt us on the glass. We won in a different way this game where we played strong D. We didn’t shoot well. A lot of credit goes to the Chargers on their defensive effort. Gutsy win tonight.”
The Bulldogs finally found a bit of separation in the waning moments, and they did it on the defensive end. Briar Cliff managed only one field goal over the game’s final four minutes. The final spread of eight points was the largest advantage for either team in a contest that featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties. The Chargers led, 57-55, with fewer than eight minutes to play, until Zac Kulus came through with a triple off the dish from Dane Jacobsen.
Down the stretch, Concordia freshman Jacob Duitsman made his presence known. He scored back-to-back buckets (including one on a put-back) that pushed the lead to 64-57 with less than five minutes remaining. Briar Cliff clawed back within two (64-62) before going cold. The Bulldogs slammed the door by going 6-for-6 from the foul line over the game’s final 2:39. Concordia made 14-of-16 from the charity stripe for the game.
The rise of Duitsman has been a major development in recent games. The Lincoln Lutheran alum and fellow freshman Garret Johnson used their length on Saturday to swipe three steals apiece. Duitsman was even tasked at times with bodying up Briar Cliff big man Jaxson Wingert on the defensive end.
Said Duitsman, “It was a great team win. We had tremendous help in our gaps. We knew how to force them left instead of letting them do what they want. We had great team defense. Offensively, it was tough, but we figured it out. We had to figure out their defense a little bit.”
Remarked Limback of Duitsman’s outing, “Huge. We needed him tonight. I thought he had the urgency that was needed throughout the game. He had some moments where he scored, but I loved his defense. He was getting deflections and things that don’t show up on the box score. He was making a lot of plays for us. When we can play smaller with him guarding their big guy, I think that makes a difference in our ability to get out in transition.”
Kissinger made his first eight shots from the field and wound up with eight rebounds and four assists. Other double figure scorers for Concordia were Duitsman (13), Kulus (11), Jaxon Stueve (11) and Jacobsen (10). The Ashland native Jacobsen also pulled down eight rebounds and was also commended afterwards by Limback for his defensive prowess.
Briar Cliff (9-8, 6-4 GPAC) entered the day tied with Concordia for second place in the league standings. The Chargers were led on Saturday by Blake Sindelar, who tallied 18 points and nine rebounds. Wingert finished with 15 points and six boards. Though Briar Cliff owned the rebound advantage (42-32), it committed eight more turnovers (15-7) than the Bulldogs. In addition to a poor shooting effort from the field, the Chargers went 12-for-19 (.632) at the foul line. Concordia has won each of the past eight series meetings with the Chargers.
The Bulldogs will remain at home and will host Hastings (4-14, 3-7 GPAC) at 7:45 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The two sides have not yet met this season, although the Broncos did participate in the Cattle Classic earlier this season. Concordia took both 2024-25 matchups from Hastings. In this weekend’s action, the Broncos were defeated at home, 80-71, by Morningside.