Athlete of the week: Concordia’s Tristan Smith leads Bulldogs to eighth straight win

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Tristan smith, a Senior Forward out of Elizabeth, Colorado putting the team on his back Saturday in a big win.

Smith led the bulldogs in all three categories with 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.

Concordia picked up a huge 85-70 victory over no. 3 Northwestern College. Before Saturday, the Raiders had only lost one game all year.

sot- “In terms of yesterday, our goal was we were going against a really talented pair of brothers and some really good shooters surrounding them,” said Smith. “We just had to contain their ability to get to the rim and contain their ability to get easy put backs and easy layups.”

Last week, Smith was named the GPAC offensive player of the week where he recorded a career high 37 points on the road at Briar Cliff.

The senior has now scored 30 points or more four times this season.

“The biggest thing I’m seeing with my success is making easy plays. Last year, I was coming back from injury and I found myself forcing stuff early and that led to a lot of turnovers,” Smith said. “As for this year, it’s just about making easy plays and allowing lanes to open up for me and trusting my teammates.”

The Bulldogs have eight wins in a row, and smith credits that to their intensity they’ve picked up on defense. Concordia held Northwestern more than 20 points below their scoring average, and limited them to just 37.1% from the floor.

“I think this team has the potential to do bigger things when we approach March, and the national tournament and the GPAC tournament,” Smith said. “We just have to stay true to what we’re doing and not let the wins get to our head.”

Concordia will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan next Friday for a date with Concordia University Chicago.