SEWARD, Neb. – Coming off back-to-back home wins, Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball will enjoy a well-timed midweek bye. The break precedes the Bulldogs’ lengthiest trip of the conference season. The Bulldogs will be headed to Forest City, Iowa, for Saturday’s contest at Waldorf. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad returned to its winning ways last week by claiming victories over Midland, 104-82, and Dordt, 94-88. Concordia continues to hold down second place in the GPAC standings with a league record of 9-5 (15-7 overall).
This Week
Wednesday, Jan. 28 – Bye
Saturday, Jan. 31 at Waldorf (5-16, 1-12 GPAC), 3:45 p.m.
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By the numbers
· In this week’s official NAIA ratings percentage index, the Bulldogs jumped eight spots to No. 53. Their strength of schedule is rated 83rd nationally. Early last week, the NAIA published the first ARC ratings of the 2025-26 season. Concordia appeared at No. 12 in the Midwest region. Other GPAC teams in the Midwest rankings were No. 5 Morningside and No. 7 Northwestern. The top teams by region are Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) in the East, Oklahoma Wesleyan University in the Midwest, Grace College (Ind.) in the North, Nelson University (Texas) in the South and Arizona Christian University in the West. The full ARC ratings can be viewed HERE.
· The perimeter shots were falling last week. While totaling 198 points over the two home wins, the Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent (72-for-126) overall and 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from 3-point range. Three Concordia players netted at least five treys for the week: Zac Kulus (9-for-13), Garret Johnson (7-for-12) and Hayden Frank (5-for-11). The Bulldogs placed six scorers in double figures in the win over Midland: Brooks Kissinger (23), Jaxon Stueve (20), Frank (15), Kulus (14), Jacob Duitsman (12) and Johnson (12). In the shootout with Dordt, both sides shot better than 50 percent from the field. Kulus equaled a career high with 21 points (5-for-7 from 3-point range), the same total accumulated by Kissinger. In addition, Frank dropped 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Concordia burned the Defenders with 16-for-32 shooting from beyond the arc. Kissinger filled up the stat sheet with eight assists and six rebounds. The Bulldogs are now 9-1 at home this season.
· The Ashland, Neb., native Kissinger has racked up 20 or more points 15 times this season while establishing himself as one of the GPAC’s top players and an All-American candidate. Among GPAC players, Kissinger ranks third in scoring average (21.0), fifth in field goal percentage (.593), fifth in rebounds per game (6.5) and 16th in assists per game (3.4). Kissinger’s scoring average in conference play is even higher at 21.9 points per game. The Ashland-Greenwood High School product played all 40 minutes of the win over Dordt (marking the first time in his career playing all 40 minutes). His role has increased immensely compared to the previous two seasons. Kissinger averaged 5.0 points as a freshman and 6.2 points as a sophomore. His career point total has moved to 805 entering the week.
· The ability of Kissinger to attack the basket has helped create perimeter shooting opportunities for teammates such as Zac Kulus. A senior guard from Bennington, Neb., Kulus knocked in nine 3-point field goals last week. For his career, Kulus is a 42.7 percent (140-for-328) 3-point shooter with 598 career points to his credit (105 games). It was also a fine week for the Malcolm native Hayden Frank, who posted his two highest point totals of the season in striking for 15 versus Midland and 18 versus Dordt. Worth noting, point guard Dane Jacobsen started and played 34 minutes (11 points) in the win over Dordt. Jacobsen left the court early in the Midland game due to injury. Limback and his staff still hope for the return of Tate Odvody for the stretch run of the season.
· With six games remaining in the regular season, the Bulldogs find themselves jockeying for a spot near the top of the GPAC standings once again. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Limback has guided the program to respective GPAC regular season placements of fourth, third, first, fifth, first and second, respectively. During that stretch, Concordia also celebrated GPAC tournament titles in 2020 and 2022. Additionally, since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, the Bulldogs own a record of 92-42 in GPAC regular season contests.
· Among GPAC squads, Concordia sports team rankings of first in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.339), second in field goal percentage defense (.464), fourth in scoring offense (84.5), fourth in scoring defense (76.3), fourth in field goal percentage offense (.504), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage offense (.372), sixth in rebound margin (-0.1) and seventh in free throw percentage (.714). In the NAIA’s net efficiency formula, the Bulldogs rank third in the GPAC behind Northwestern and Morningside.
· In the race for the GPAC regular season title, Morningside has a clear leg up. The Mustangs stand at 12-1 in league play, giving them a four-game lead in the loss column over the likes of Concordia (9-5), Mount Marty (9-5) and Northwestern (8-5). Morningside has won 12 consecutive GPAC games since falling at Midland in its conference opener. Farther back in the league standings, several teams are still working to secure a spot in the eight-team GPAC tournament.
Concordia Projected Starting Five
G – Dane Jacobsen, 6-3 (12.2)
G – Brooks Kissinger, 6-3 (21.0)
G – Zac Kulus, 6-0 (10.3)
G – Jaxon Stueve, 6-4 (12.1)
F – Logan Wilson, 6-7 (6.5)
Head Coach Ben Limback, 13th season (247-148 at CUNE)
The opponent
Waldorf got over the hump in conference play by winning at Doane, 83-82, on Jan. 10 for its first GPAC victory. This past Saturday, the Warriors were beaten at Mount Marty, 107-103, despite going an incredible 17-for-24 (.708) from 3-point range. Michael Wirth is in his first season as Waldorf’s head coach. He’s tasked with building up a program that struggled in its first season as a GPAC member in 2024-25. The Warriors finished last season at 3-24 overall (2-18 GPAC). The 2025-26 edition has shown an ability to score, averaging 78.8 points per game. Three Waldorf players average in double figures: Conner Aldridge (19.1), Krys Watley (13.1) and Nick Graves (12.0). Watley has not played the past two games for the Warriors. Concordia has defeated Waldorf in each of the three meetings since the Warriors became GPAC members. Waldorf appeared at No. 196 in the latest NAIA RPI.
Waldorf Projected Starting Five
G – Cohen Aldridge, 6-4 (8.1)
G – Omar Foley, 6-2 (9.0)
G – Nick Graves, 6-3 (12.0)
G – Cornelius Porter Jr., 6-1 (7.2)
F – Conner Aldridge, 6-5 (19.1)
Head Coach: Michael Wirth, 1st season
Next week
The Bulldogs will return to playing twice in the week as they are slated to play at Doane on Feb. 4 before hosting GPAC leading Morningside on Feb. 7. Five regular season games will take place in February, leading up to the conference tournament.