Cougars Lose 11-Point Lead, Stars Prevail in Final Minute
Nov. 30, 2010 - The rivalry between neighborhood rivals Concordia and Dominican University was renewed tonight at DU's Igini Sports Forum. As expected, the two teams fought down to the wire, but Dominican scored in the final half-minute of play and then survived two final Concordia shots to win by a 64-62 score.
The two teams battled on even terms for the first four minutes before the Stars, aided by four Cougar turnovers, ran off nine straight points for an 11-4 lead. However, Concordia regrouped after a timeout as Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) hit consecutive jumpers. Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) followed with a driving layup, and Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) added a fallaway for a 12-11 Cougars' lead.
Dominican answered with the next six points, but Concordia roared back again as Vilius got free following a steal and slammed the ball through, bringing a loud response from the Cougar fans in attendance. Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) energized the Cougars with eight points off the bench, including two free throws that put CUC back on top, 24-23. However, the final four points of the half went to the Stars, and they carried a 27-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
Concordia shot just 10 of 27 for 37 percent, 0-3 from three-point range. Dominican made good on half of their shots, going 11 of 22 while hitting four of their 10 three-pointers. The Cougars stayed close with a three-point advantage at the free throw line and a plus-four differential in turnovers; the Stars committed 13 turnovers to the Cougars' nine.
James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) opened the second half with four straight buckets from close range. Gary added a jumper, and Weberg made Concordia's first three of the game as Concordia took a 37-33 lead in the first four minutes. The Cougars stayed red-hot as they connected on 11 of their first 12 shots from the field with Devin Pankey's (Inkster, MI/Romulus) layup giving the visitors a 50-39 lead.
Just as it looked like the Cougars were about to run away, Dominican came back over the next few minutes with a 12-0 run, capped by two threes from Kevin Blackowicz. Morgan finally broke the spell with a short jumper, and the two teams had the stage set for a frantic finale.
The teams exchanged leads before Weberg's jumper in the lane gave Concordia a 62-61 lead with 30.9 ticks remaining. But it took just eight seconds for Dominican to regain the lead as Kaleb Watts converted a layup off a post feed from Durelle Garmon.
Young misfired on a three on Concordia's possession, and the ball came down within a huge pile of bodies. A jump ball was ruled with the Stars having the arrow in their favor. Forced to foul, the Cougars sent Jovan Turley to the line. Turley missed the first and made the second, giving the Cougars a chance in the final 4.5 seconds to tie or win the game. However, Young's running jumper from 15 feet was off the mark, and the Stars corraled the rebound as time expired.
Dominican's Blackowicz led all scorers with 17 points including 5-8 from behind the arc while Marquis Turley added 16 points (2-3 on threes). The Stars made good on eight of 18 threes and shot 25-47 overall for 53 percent.
Weberg led the Cougars with 15 points, followed by Morgan with 12 points and nine rebounds. The Cougars shot 25-52 (48 percent) and were true on 11 of 13 free throws (85 percent) but made just one of five shots from three-point range.
Concordia (4-2, 1-2 NAC) returns to action on Saturday when they play at Edgewood College.
