Nov. 19, 2010 - Based on the Concordia Cougars' first few games of the new season, the veterans' ability not to panic in the midst of a storm may prove to be an important trademark of the 2010-11 team. Concordia took on Coe College this evening in round one of the River Forest Classic at Dominican University. They saw a 12-point halftime lead get away but picked themselves up in overtime to earn a 76-69 win and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Head coach Tyler Jones looked for a hot start from his starting five, and the Cougars gave it to him. Concordia built a 9-0 lead on the strength of Justin Hineman's (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) three-point play, two baskets by James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) and a breakaway layup by Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) off a steal by Morgan. The Cougars' effort was rugged at the defensive end, not allowing the Kohawks to score until the 15:04 mark. Coe eventually crept to within 13-6, but Young and Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) answered with baskets to give Concordia its first double-digit lead of the night midway through the half.
Coe was able to stay in the chase by hitting a couple of threes, but Concordia maintained hot shooting throughout the half, hitting 13 of 24 for 54 percent. Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) closed the half with two free throws and a hard drive to the basket, and Concordia led 34-22 at the break.
The Cougars maintained their 12-point lead through a rough first five minutes of the second half. but the visitors from Iowa would not go away. A three-point play by Joe Parys at the 13:13 mark brought the Kohawks to within 40-34, and a three by Andrew Wirth a minute later made it a three-point game. A jumper by Al Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, WI/Eisenhower) stemmed the tide momentarily, but Coe scored the next five points to knot the game at 42-42.
Vilius regained the lead for Concordia with a high-flying follow-up and then put back a missed shot moments later to put Concordia back up by four, 46-42. Ryan Tyszkiewicz (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) then drained a long three from the left side, and the Cougars led by seven with 7:35 to play.
The Kohawks charged back again, tying it on a three by David Mataloni. The teams matched baskets over the next few minutes until Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) hit a 15-footer from the right wing for a 61-59 lead. Seth Light knotted it again as he rebounded a missed three and laid the ball in. The Kohawks then got their opportunity as Gary's layup rimmed out. Coe rebounded and called time out to plan the last shot. Mataloni looked to pull up for the game-winner but was called for palming the ball with 2.1 seconds left, giving the Cougars their turn for a potential winning shot. Concordia got the ball into Young, but he was fiercely challenged on a 13-foot shot from the left side and came up short to send the game into overtime.
Morgan began the overtime with a baseline jumper, but Wirth's three gave Coe its first lead of the game at 64-63. The two teams then exchanged leads for the next few minutes before Weberg's jumper put Concordia up 69-66. However, Wirth canned another three from his right-wing spot to tie the game at the 2:01 mark.
With the pressure building, Young stepped up and hit the Cougars' two biggest shots of the night. First, he hit a three from up top to make it 72-69 with 1:31 remaining. Then, after Moran rebounded Mataloni's missed shot, the Cougars ran the shot clock down. With time expiring, Young put one up under heavy pressure from the left wing that rippled through the net as the shot clock buzzer sounded. The Cougars' lead was at six, and a free throw by Tyszkiewicz put the final point on the board in sealing win number two for the Cougars.
"We stopped playing in the second half, and that opens the door for a good team to get hot from the perimeter and get back into the game," said Jones. "However, our resiliency showed itself again when we needed it most. Deontay hit the clutch threes for us and led us to a nice win."
The Cougars return to action on Saturday night at 6:00 when they host Blackburn College in the final game of the River Forest Classic. The game will be preceded by Dominican versus Coe at 4:00.
