Cougar Men at 4-0 Following Overtime Win
Nov. 23, 2010 - Appropriately for the holiday week, the Concordia men's basketball team can give thanks tonight for a victory that did not get away. The Cougars survived a buzzer-beating three by Lakeland College to force overtime and some below-average free throw shooting to post a 68-67 win over the Muskies in the opening of Northern Athletics Conference play this evening at Geiseman Gymnasium.
Lakeland jumped out to a 9-2 lead as Concordia missed five of its first six shots from the field. However, the Cougars relied on their defense to get them back into the game. Following Lakeland's initial flurry from the floor, Concordia held the visitors to just 3-17 shooting. On the other end of the floor, James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) and Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) combined for 15 points on 7-11 shooting. Morgan's putback tied the game at 23-23, and Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) scored on a layup with 10 seconds left in the half as Concordia grabbed its first lead of the night.
Concordia held the lead for the early minutes of the second half before an 8-0 run threatened to blow the game wide open. Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran), who would shoot a perfect 7-7 in the second half,scored six straight points including a three, and Jacob O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West) followed by driving the baseline for a layup to stretch the Cougars' lead to 45-32.
The lead was still at 13 when the Muskies went on a 10-0 run, aided by four Cougar turnovers. Gary's jumper stemmed the tide momentarily as the Cougars' lead settled in between three and five points heading into the final minutes. But four missed free throws would hurt the Cougars down the stretch. With nine seconds left and a two-point lead, Morgan made just one of two free throws. Lakeland came down the floor and got the ball to Josh Regal in the left corner. Regal was double-teamed but managed to step between the players and force up a three that swished through the net as the horn sounded. The two teams headed to overtime tied at 59-59.
The extra session started dubiously for Concordia as Germell Heard scored five straight points. It would be Weberg to the rescue for the Cougars as he broke the ice in the overtime with a jumper. Moments later, following a Muskies' turnover, Weberg knocked down a three from the right wing to knot the game at 64-64. The Cougars made it a 7-0 run on the next possession as Devin Pankey (Inkster, MI/Romulus) was fouled while shooting. Pankey hit both free throws. and the Cougars led 66-64 with 1:12 remaining.
A missed layup by Pankey with 28 seconds left gave Lakeland new life, and they capitalized on a three by Bobby Komorowski (24 points) for a 67-66 lead with just under 20 seconds remaining.
The Cougars called timeout to set up their play, and Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) took the inbounds and wound the clock down to 10 seconds. He then drove the lane and was fouled going up for the shot. Young calmly hit both free throws with 7.6 seconds still to play.
Lakeland, out of timeouts, inbounded to Regal, and the guard looked for a three from the top of the key. This time, Gordon got a piece of the shot, and the ball fell into Pankey's hands as time ran out on the Muskies.
Weberg finished with 10-13 shooting from the field for 23 points - 21 coming after halftime. Morgan and Gary scored 12 points each while Morgan and Young tied for rebounding honors with nine each. For Lakeland, Komorowski's 24 was followed by Regal's 15 and Stan McKenizie's 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Concordia is now 4-0 for the first time since the 1978-79 season. They will try for win number five on Saturday when they host Concordia University Wisconsin at 4:15, following the women's game.
