Weberg's Big Second Half Leads Cougars' Opening Victory
Nov. 17, 2010 - The Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team tipped off the 2010-11 season this evening with a contest against the North Park University Vikings on Chicago's north side. The Cougars faced adversity for much of the night, but defensive pressure and a huge second half by Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) finally put Concordia over the hump as they earned a 67-64 win.
North Park scored the first five points of the game and jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead, six of the points coming off of Concordia turnovers. Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech), Devin Pankey (Inkster, MI/Romulus) and Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) checked into the game early and were able to slow the Vikings' offense down, but the Cougars were unable to cut into the lead. Concordia shot just 2-9 in the first seven minutes while committing four turnovers.
The Cougars made their move as Jacob O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West) hit a three. Gordon then stole the ball along the baseline and hit a layup to cut the Vikings' lead to 14-9. James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) then converted underneath off an assist from O'Hara, and Ryan Tyszkiewicz (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) answered a North Park basket with a three from the right wing to bring Concordia to within two at 16-14.
Concordia stayed close but was unable to get over the hump before the half. North Park gained an advantage in hitting 10 of 12 free throws while Concordia was just 2-5. Clayton Cahill hit a three to beat the halftime horn and gave the Vikings a 33-25 lead after 20 minutes.
Weberg hit a two and a three to start the second half, giving a sign of things to come, but North Park extended their lead to 10 on a three-point play by Emanuel Crosby. Concordia kept coming as Vilius fueled a 12-4 run with six points including a breakaway slam.
Morgan added a jumper in the lane and came up with a steal seconds later, feeding O'Hara for a layup and, just like that, the Cougars were within 48-46 with 10 minutes to go. Morgan then hit both ends of a bonus to tie it at 48-48.
The Vikings jumped back into the lead, but the Cougars came back and finally took their first lead of the night following a steal by Young. Weberg hit two free throws, and the Cougars were in front 59-58 with 4:37 left.
The Cougars would take a three-point lead on a bucket by Weberg, but the hosts retaliated over the next few minutes to tie the game at 62-62. Weberg then hit the biggest shot of the night, a 13-foot jumper from the right side for the lead. Moments later, Gordon came up with a big defensive rebound over Vikings' center Emanuel Crosby. Concordia moved the ball down the court quickly and got the ball to O'Hara for the layup that made it 66-62 Cougars with 29.9 seconds left.
Concordia's defense made North Park work for their shot, but Jorge Gonzalez got to the foul line and canned both free throws to make it a two-point game with 11.2 left. Pankey was fouled quickly and missed the first free throw but made the second, giving the Vikings a final shot at a tie. However, Nick Hoekstra missed on a three from the left wing. Clayton Cahill collected the long rebound and actually hit the desperation three, but the horn sounded before he released the shot and the Cougars had a hard-fought win.
Weberg was the only Cougar to score in double figures; his 16 came on 6-9 from the field (1-2 on threes) and 3-4 from the foul line. Young and O'Hara had nine points each. Morgan was held to six points but had a game-high 12 rebounds as Concordia won the battle on the boards by a 41-32 count.
North Park (0-1) was led by Crosby's 18 points (6-9 FG, 6-7 FT) and Cahill's 14.
The Cougars will look to make it a 2-0 start when they play game one of the River Forest Classic on Friday night at Dominican University. Concordia will take on Coe College from the Iowa Conference.
