KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Through three rounds of national tournament play, no moment has felt too big for this Concordia University Men’s Basketball team. Under the brightest of spotlights the NAIA has to offer, the fifth-seeded Bulldogs grinded out a 75-65 win over eighth-seeded Indiana University Kokomo in the round of 16 at the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship on Friday (March 18). Noah Schutte delighted the Bulldog faithful on hand inside Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City by rattling off a game high 24 points.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad has won each of its three national tournament games by double digits and has moved to 28-6 overall. Just about everything Concordia is accomplishing right now is a first for the program since the 2004-05 season when it made a run to the NAIA Division II national title game.
“A lot of us hadn’t been to this venue before,” Limback said. “Yesterday gave us a chance to soak it all in and see some teams play. There are really good teams here. Something we wanted to do is just represent our league and do our best. We had a little nerves at times, but overall it was a gritty, tough effort. The second half was really a slugfest. Noah Schutte had an outstanding game again providing a lot of tough buckets for us.
“Survive and move on. That’s what this team is about right now. I’m just so proud of the guys.”
IU Kokomo (31-4) had upset the NAIA’s top-ranked team, William Penn University (Iowa), in the preceding round and made it a physical battle on Friday night. This was far from easy for the Bulldogs, who committed 20 turnovers and had three players foul out. However, Concordia got it done by following Schutte’s lead, by owning a 45-29 advantage on the boards and by limiting the Cougars to 39.3 percent (24-for-61) shooting.
With less than five minutes remaining, the Bulldogs clung to a 62-58 lead. They finally found some breathing room with the help of Schutte’s second three-point play of the second half. IU Kokomo remained a challenge to put away. With the lead at 71-65 in the closing 30 seconds, Carter Kent and Gage Smith both went 2-for-2 from the foul line to seal the victory. Defense and rebounding were the key parts of the formula.
Said Schutte, “We’re taking a one-game mentality like we have been the whole year – no nerves. We came out here and we were ready for a fight. Kokomo is a great team and it was just a great team win. It was gritty by us for sure.”
Schutte pulled in 12 rebounds as part of his double-double and a continuation of a monster national tournament run. Kent added 16 points, five assists and four rebounds while Gage Smith supplied 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sam Scarpelli also chipped in with seven points off the bench while draining a pair of first-half threes. Tristan Smith posted five points and six rebounds.
The bulk of the Cougar scoring came from three players: Tayson Parker (16), Trequan Spivey (14) and Desean Hampton (13). Hampton was the player of the year in the River States Conference. IU Kokomo came into the game holding foes to an average of 65.6 points per game.
The Bulldogs did not get loose for the type of offensive flurry they showcased in Omaha last week, but they have proven they can win in more ways than one. Said Limback, “It’s a different team right now. There’s a lot of confidence, but they’re also aware of the challenges at hand. We have to be better. I thought we made a lot of careless mistakes tonight and kind of beat ourselves at times. When you walk in the locker room and there’s not this huge celebration – they know what they want to accomplish. That was just one game and we’ve got a tough team again tomorrow.”
Saturday’s national quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Talladega College (Ala.) will tip off at 7 p.m. CT from Municipal Auditorium. A member of the Southern States Athletic Conference, the Tornadoes (30-5) knocked off Jamestown, 67-56, in the round of 16 on Friday. For Concordia, this will be its fifth all-time appearance in a national quarterfinal game. The Bulldogs have reached the semifinals twice in program history.