Round of 16 Preview: Bulldogs carry momentum into KC

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 14, 2022 in Men's Basketball

2022 Concordia MBB National Tournament Press Guide

SEWARD, Neb. – In the first year of a 64-team bracket for the NAIA national tournament, the Concordia University Men’s Basketball team has reached the championship’s final site as one of 16 teams left standing. The fifth-seeded Bulldogs cruised through their opening round in Omaha with wins over 12th-seeded Indiana University Northwest, 96-78, and fourth-seeded Marian University (Ind.), 90-67. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has moved to 27-6 overall heading into Friday’s national round of 16 matchup with No. 8 seed Indiana University Kokomo. All remaining games will be played at historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

NAIA National Championship Final Site Info
-Location: Municipal Auditorium | Kansas City, Mo.
-Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/naia-basketball-tournament-tickets/artist/2774366
-Live Streaming Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/naia/ (pay-per-view)
-Live Stats: Presto Stats
-Radio: 104.9 Max Country (will cover all Concordia games)
-Tournament Sponsor: Ballogy
-Concordia’s Honorary Coach: Sports Radio 810 WHB (Kansas City)

Media Credential Request Form

Game Schedule

2022 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Bracket (PDF)

Round of 16 – Friday, March 18: (5) Concordia (27-6) vs. (8) IU Kokomo (31-3), 7 p.m.

If Concordia continues to advance …

Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 19, 7 p.m.

Semifinals – Monday, March 21, 7 p.m.

Championship – Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.

By the numbers

·        The Bulldogs did not waste any time in proving they belong on the national stage while earning convincing wins over IU Northwest and Marian. In the process, the program claimed its 12th and 13th wins all-time at the national tournament and its first national tournament victories since the 2004-05 squad made a run to the NAIA Division II national championship game. In terms of margin of victory in the opening round, only Loyola University of New Orleans was more dominant last week. Concordia’s average margin of victory of 20.5 points was second only to Loyola among the 16 teams headed to Kansas City. The Bulldogs are at the national tournament for the 11th time in program history.

·        This year marks the fifth time in program history that Concordia has won multiple games at a single national tournament. Under former Head Coach Grant Schmidt (nine national tournament appearances), the Bulldogs accomplished that feat in 1992, 1995, 2003 and 2005. Concordia reached at least the quarterfinal round in each of those instances (two all-time semifinal advancements). Concordia is going back to Kansas City, where it made its first ever national tournament appearance back in 1991. At that time, the NAIA tournament was played at Kemper Arena. That 1990-91 Bulldog squad featured future Concordia Athletic Hall of Famers in Matt List, John Puelz, Devin Smith and Mike Works.

·        While balance was again a theme last week for Concordia, it’s probably fair to consider Noah Schutte the unofficial MVP of the opening round. Over the first two national tournament games, the Laurel, Neb., native posted a combined 41 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots while making 14-of-20 (.700) shots from the floor and 11-of-14 (.786) free throw attempts. The other top scorers over the weekend were Carter Kent (33), AJ Watson (26), Justin Wiersema (24), Gage Smith (23), Tristan Smith (19) and Sam Scarpelli (16). In the victory over Marian, Gage Smith went for 16 points and 16 rebounds. The offense as a whole operated with incredible efficiency as the Bulldogs shot 50.4 percent (62-for-123) from the floor, 43.6 percent (24-for-55) from 3-point range and 77.6 percent (38-for-49) from the foul line. Meanwhile, the opponents shot 39.3 percent from the field.

·        Kent has reserved a special place within Concordia Men’s Basketball lore. The clutch moments will live on – the full-court alley-oop pass to beat Briar Cliff at the buzzer and the game-winning shot against Doane in the GPAC semifinals among them. In addition, Kent keeps moving up the program’s all-time lists. He pushed himself to No. 5 all-time in scoring with 1,671 points, leapfrogging him above Devin Smith (1,659). Kent ranks behind only Jon Ziegler (2,099), Tom Raabe (2,016), Chandler Folkerts (1,963) and John Puelz (1,955). On other school lists, Kent ranks fifth in 3-point field goals (246) and eighth in assists (317). Meanwhile, Wiersema has jumped up to ninth in assists (299) and 18th in scoring (1,265). In addition, Gage Smith now ranks 10th for career rebounds (619).

·        For Limback, this is his ninth season leading his alma mater and his 18th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Limback sports an overall coaching record of 278-270, including a mark of 163-112 at CUNE. Before returning to Seward, Limback spent nine seasons as the head coach at Concordia University Ann Arbor. As a player at Concordia, Limback helped the Bulldogs to three national tournament appearances. Limback and his college coach, Schmidt, are the only two head coaches in school history to lead the program to the national tournament. Limback led Concordia to its first conference regular season title since the 1995-96 season.

·        The list of accomplishments this season keeps growing. The 27 wins in 2021-22 are the third most in a season in program history, trailing only the 2004-05 team that went 32-6 and the 1994-95 squad that went 30-4. This season has also included a perfect home record (16-0) and a sweep of GPAC regular season and tournament championships. The 15 GPAC wins were a school record for most conference victories in a season. In all measurable ways, this has been one of the greatest seasons in school history.

Opponent breakdown

(8) Indiana University Kokomo
Overall Record: 31-3
Location: Kokomo, Indiana
Conference: River States Conference
Head Coach: Eric Echelbarger (4th season)
RPI: T-23rd
SOS: T-189th
O-PPG: 76.8
D-PPG: 65.6
All-Conference: Eric Echelbarger (Coach of the Year); Desean Hampton (Player of the Year; First Team); Trequan Spivey (First Team).
Overview: Based on seeding, IU Kokomo is the biggest Cinderella story of the tournament so far. The eighth-seeded Cougars got to this point thanks to an 82-80 win over ninth-seeded Dordt and then an eye-opening 93-92 upset of top-seeded William Penn University (Iowa). While that result may have surprised many nationally, Head Coach Eric Echelbarger’s squad is used to winning. IU Kokomo will carry a 19-game winning streak into Friday’s matchup. In the win over William Penn, Trequan Spivey put up 24 points and Allante Harper added 22. The headlining individual on the team is Desean Hampton, the River Stats Conference Player of the Year. Hampton is the program’s all-time leading scorer with more than 2,000 career points. The Cougars’ most recent loss actually came against a team Concordia just played – IU Northwest on Dec. 16. Nationally, IU Kokomo ranks 12th in field goal percentage defense (.399), 17th in scoring defense (65.6) and 30th in field goal percentage offense (.481).

Potential Quarterfinal opponents: The Concordia/IU Kokomo winner will play either second-seeded Talladega College (Ala.) or sixth-seeded Jamestown at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday as part of the Duer Quadrant final. The Bulldogs are plenty familiar with Jamestown, a conference opponent that they have beaten three times this season. The most recent matchup came in the GPAC tournament championship game. The Jimmies advanced to Kansas City by way of wins over No. 11 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and No. 3 Carroll (Mont.). Meanwhile, Talladega’s national tournament path has included wins over No. 15 Washington Adventist (Md.) and Cumberland (Tenn.). The Tornadoes were ranked sixth in the NAIA coaches’ poll released on Feb. 23. The stars of the show for Talladega have been First Team All-Southern States Athletic Conference honorees Darryl Baker and Cam Potts. Two-time GPAC Player of the Year Mason Walters of Jamestown presents a problem for all opponents. A year ago, Jamestown reached the national quarterfinals while Talladega was eliminated in the round of 32.

Round of 16 pairings

Duer Quadrant

(5) Concordia vs. (8) IU Kokomo
(2) Talladega (Ala.) vs. (6) Jamestown (N.D.)

Liston Quadrant

(1) Oklahoma Wesleyan vs. (5) LSU Shreveport (La.)
(6) SAGU (Texas) vs. (2) Thomas More (Ky.)

Naismith Quadrant

(1) Loyola (La.) vs. (4) Faulkner (Ala.)
(3) College of Idaho vs. (7) Grace (Ind.)

Cramer Quadrant

(1) Arizona Christian vs. (5) Bethel (Kan.)
(3) William Jessup (Calif.) vs. (2) Indiana Wesleyan