Concordia’s men’s basketball team made 9-of-12 three pointers to open the game, built an 18-point lead and then coasted to a 74-61 victory over Doane inside Friedrich Arena Dec. 15.
Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad was locked in from the tipoff after it let one get away on the road this past weekend. The Bulldogs jumped to 9-3 overall (6-3 GPAC).
Doane scored the first points of the game on a triple before CU went on a 14-0 run that set the tone for the rest of the evening. During that splurge, Noah Schutte made three treys and Gage Smith capped it with one of his own. Schutte was 4-for-4 from long range after he hit another perimeter jumper at the 3:26 mark of the first half to make it a 42-24 lead.
The Tigers (7-6, 4-3 GPAC) did make a run, but they never got any closer than 10.
Every time Doane threatened to make things interesting in the second half, Tristan Smith had an answer. Twelve of his game-high 21 points came over the final 20 minutes. He delivered a dagger at the 4:24 mark with a three pointer to push the lead to 68-55.
With just over a minute remaining, AJ Watson added three more for good measure.
The Bulldogs wound up 16-for-31 (.516) from beyond the arc. Tristan Smith added nine rebounds to go with his 21 points. Schutte finished with 19 points (5-for-7 from beyond the arc) and five rebounds, and Watson chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds. Gage Smith posted nine points and 11 rebounds ,while Brad Bennett added six points off the bench.
Backcourt standout Brady Timm led Doane with 21 points while Alec Oberhauser and Nick Saiz put up 14 apiece. The Tigers shot 46.3% (25-for-54) from the floor but couldn’t make up the difference in perimeter shooting. Concordia has now won five of the past six meetings with Doane.
