Athletic Hall of Fame
The 1962-63 Concordia Men’s Basketball team earned the second of back-to-back invitations to the NCAA College Division Tournament, a first in school history.
The 1962-63 team returned all but one member of the previous year’s roster, including all five starters. The Cougars stormed back from a 0-3 start to win 18 of their next 19 games. They roared into the tournament in St. Louis, MO on a 13-game winning streak, only to come up against Evansville University. The Cougars dropped a hard-fought 66-56 game but came back to win the consolation game against Augustana College (Rock Island) 92-83 and finish the season with a 19-5 record.
Don Spitz coached the Cougars in both tournament appearances, part of a 73-43 (.629) five-year record at Concordia. The squad was among the nation’s leaders in team defense, allowing just 58.6 points in 1962-63.
