SEWARD, Neb. – The competition will be fierce this week for Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball. Fresh of their first GPAC win of the season, the Bulldogs look forward to playing NCAA Division I University of Nebraska Omaha and third-ranked Northwestern. Both contests will take place away from Friedrich Arena, where Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has won three straight. Concordia improved its season mark to 4-2 with this past Saturday’s thumping of Waldorf.
This Week
Wednesday, Nov. 19 at Omaha (1-3), 7 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Baxter Arena (Omaha, Neb.)
--Exhibition for Concordia
Saturday, Nov. 22 at No. 3 Northwestern (6-1, 0-1 GPAC), 6:45 p.m.
--Live Webcast | Live Stats | Location: Bultman Center (Orange City, Iowa)
By the numbers
· The Bulldogs began last week’s GPAC opener on a 14-2 run and eventually grew the lead as large as 30 points in the 95-67 win over Waldorf. Four Concordia players reached double figures in scoring: Brooks Kissinger (22), Jaxon Stueve (19), Dane Jacobsen (17) and Tate Odvody (15). Both Kissinger (10 rebounds) and Jacobsen (11 assists) produced double-doubles while Stueve (nine rebounds) narrowly missed out on one of his own. Off the bench, freshman sniper Garret Johnson rained in three treys. The Bulldogs shot 57.6 percent (38-for-66) from the floor overall. At the same time, Concordia held the Warriors to 42.2 percent (27-for-64) shooting. The Bulldogs have won all three meetings with Waldorf since the Warriors became a GPAC member beginning in 2024-25.
· The Ashland, Neb., native Kissinger is emerging as a star. Kissinger missed the season opener at No. 23 Graceland University (Kan.) and then played only eight minutes in game No. 2. Since then, Kissinger has posted respective point totals of 17, 31 (career high), 18 and 22. On the season, Kissinger is averaging 18.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Those figures have skyrocketed compared to last season when Kissinger came off the bench and averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds. Kissinger is an Ashland-Greenwood High School alum majoring in Business Administration.
· Jacobsen was a high school teammate of Kissinger. The duo now fuels the Concordia backcourt. As a sophomore, Jacobsen has taken over the point guard role and ranks second among GPAC players with an average of 5.8 assists per game. Jacobsen is also averaging 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 51.0 percent from the floor. The Ashland native came off the bench in all 30 of his appearances for last season’s national tournament qualifying squad. Jacobsen graduated high school as his class valedictorian and studies Business Administration like Kissinger.
· In their second game of the Cattle Classic (a 107-68 win over Clarke University), the Bulldogs broke a program record for a single game by draining 23 treys. Concordia has used the 3-point arc to its advantage this season having shot 38.8 percent (69-for-178) from the perimeter. Meanwhile, its opponents have shot just 26.8 percent (42-for-157) from beyond the arc. The team’s top outside shooters thus far have been Dane Jacobsen (10-for-21; 47.6 percent), Garret Johnson (13-for-29; 46.9 percent) and Zac Kulus (12-for-29; 41.4 percent). Kulus is a career 42.2 percent (105-for-249) long range shooter.
· Limback will lead his team up against an NCAA Division I opponent for the first time since the 2018-19 season. In that campaign, the Bulldogs lost an exhibition game at the University of North Dakota, 89-56. Concordia also dropped an exhibition to South Dakota State University during the 2017-18 season. Back in November of 2016, the Bulldogs played an exhibition at NCAA Division II Northwest Missouri State University (lost 89-55), a team then guided by current University of Iowa Head Coach Ben McCollum.
· It was a wild first weekend of GPAC league games as perennially strong squads stepped on landmines on the road. The most significant upset occurred in Crete, where Doane stunned No. 3 Doane, 75-71. Elsewhere, Dordt fell at Mount Marty, 84-71, and Morningside was beaten at Midland, 92-82. The Red Raiders are the lone GPAC representative to be included in the latest NAIA top 25. Dordt landed in the receiving votes category.
Concordia Projected Starting Five
G – Dane Jacobsen, 6-3 (12.5)
G – Brooks Kissinger, 6-3 (18.2)
G – Jaxon Stueve, 6-4 (11.2)
F – Tate Odvody, 6-4 (10.8)
F – Logan Wilson, 6-7 (8.2)
The opponents
Head Coach Chris Crutchfield’s program experienced a breakthrough last season as it reached the NCAA Championship tournament. The Mavericks earned their way to March Madness by winning the Summit League championship game over the University of St. Thomas. In the 2025-26 Summit League preseason poll, Omaha was picked second behind St. Thomas. Senior guards Tony Osburn (first team) and Ja’Sean Glover (second team) were named to the preseason All-Summit team. Through four games this season, Osburn (18.8) and Lance Waddles (14.5) are leading the Mavericks in scoring. Omaha picked up its first victory of 2025-26 this past Saturday, defeating Southern Utah, 90-85, at home. The team’s three losses all came away from Baxter Arena. The Maverick roster includes three players from the state of Nebraska.
Omaha Projected Starting Five
G – Tony Osburn, 6-2 (18.8)
G – Grant Stubblefield, 6-1 (9.0)
G – Lance Waddles, 6-4 (14.5)
F – Brock Scholl, 6-8 (6.5)
F – Kamryn Thomas, 6-8 (4.5)
Northwestern moved up five spots to No. 3 in the NAIA coaches’ poll released on Nov. 12. The Red Raiders stormed to a 6-0 start before their 75-71 loss at Doane in the GPAC opener. In his first season as head coach, former Northwestern star player Colton Kooima was handed the keys to a star-studded roster. Kooima took over for a legendary coach in Kris Korver, who won 574 games and two national championships and made 19 national tournament appearances during his 25-year tenure. The Red Raiders also said goodbye to one All-American Van Kalsbeek in Alex. Fortunately for Northwestern, it returned another All-American Van Kalsbeek in younger brother Jesse. Now a sophomore, Jesse Van Kalsbeek leads the nation in scoring at 34.3 points per game (to go along with 13.0 rebounds per game). In the backcourt, the dynamic Jalen Langsy averages 29.0 points. As a team, the Red Raiders rank third nationally in scoring average (100.7). Before hosting Concordia on Saturday, Northwestern will play at arch rival Dordt on Wednesday night.
Northwestern Projected Starting Five
G – Kaleb Booth, 6-0 (5.0)
G – Mason Gerleman, 6-2 (2.6)
G – Manny Hammonds, 6-3 (12.0)
G – Jalen Langsy, 6-1 (29.0)
F – Jesse Van Kalsbeek, 6-6 (34.3)
Next week
The Bulldogs will play once during the week of Thanksgiving. They will be headed to Mount Marty for conference action on Tuesday, Nov. 25.