Nov. 27, 2010 - Some timely three-point shooting by the visiting Concordia Wisconsin Falcons blew open what had been a tight contest in the first half and resulted in a 79-55 victory over the Concordia Chicago Cougars at Geiseman Gymnasium this afternoon. The Falcons won their Northern Athletics Conference opener and improved to 3-1 overall while the Cougars fell to 4-1, 1-1 NAC.
The home team had the upper hand early as Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) and James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) combined for the Cougars' first 11 points. Shortly after, Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) nailed a jumper, and Justin Hineman (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) followed up a missed shot underneath for a 15-9 lead after just 5:10 had elapsed.
The Cougars' bench scored their next seven points, highlighted by a three by Jacob O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West). Morgan and Hineman followed with inside scores, and the Cougars were threatening to run away and hide with a 26-15 lead. However, the Falcons answered back with an 18-9 run over the final 6:24, sparked by threes by Mitchell Schneider and Edward Newton-Kemp to close to within just two points at the half, 35-33.
Gary's basket provided the opening points of the second half, but the Falcons came back behind Schneider's three-point play and long-distance three to give the Falcons a 43-41 lead. Tony Kay (Walnut, IL/Bureau Valley) got the Cougars back even briefly, but a three-pointer by David Lopez at the 12:57 mark started a run of 17 straight points for the guests. Lopez added another three and a layup, and threes by Schneider and Lopez closed the run and gave the Falcons a 60-43 lead with 8:14 remaining.
While Weberg's basket halted the run of points, the Falcons did not slow down. Their lead hit 20 on Matt Paluchniak's follow at the 5:27 mark and peaked at 28 (77-49) with three minutes remaining before both coaches emptied their benches for the final few minutes.
Schneider hit 5-8 from three-point range in leading all scorers with 19 points. Lopez was 4-6 behind the arc as part of a 16-point effort, and Newton-Kemp added 15 points. Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) and Weberg led the Cougars with nine points each while Morgan and Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) both scored eight.
The Falcons shot 26-58 for 45 percent but hit on 11-27 threes for 41 percent. By contrast, the Cougars were just 3-12 for 25 percent from long distance and 22 of 56 for 39 percent overall. The Falcons claimed a small 37-35 edge on the boards and won the turnover battle, committing just 12 to the Cougars' 19.
Concordia Chicago (4-1, 1-1 NAC) will travel to nearby Dominican University for a Tuesday night game at 7:00.
