Dec. 29, 2010 - The first of a two-game road trip to Southern California pitted the Concordia-Chicago Cougars against sister school and NAIA Division I powerhouse Concordia Irvine. The Eagles, fifth in the NAIA preseason rankings, entered the game with a 10-2 record and showed little mercy on the visitors and their large alumni following in rolling to a 103-61 win.
While the Cougars had problems on the offensive end for much of the night, shooting just 38 percent and committing 28 turnovers, the three-point shooting of the Eagles' Cameron Gliddon was the story of the game. Gliddon scored 26 points for the night on the strength of 9-13 shooting, 8-12 from three-point range. Gliddon, a 6'5" junior forward from Australia, nailed four of his threes in an opening 24-4 burst in which the Eagles made good on six treys total. The Eagles extended their lead to 53-25 at the half, and the second half saw both coaches use their benches liberally.
Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) was the only Cougar to score in double figures, tallying 10 points on 4-6 from the field and 2-4 from the line. Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) added nine points off the bench, and Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) and Justin Hineman (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) each scored eight. James Morgan (Cedar Rapids, IA/Kennedy) and Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) both pulled down five rebounds as the Cougars outrebounded the taller Eagles by a 40-37 margin.
The Eagles, who shot 39-70 (56 percent) from the field and 14-32 (44 percent) from three-point range, were led by Gliddon's 26 and Justin Johnson's 21. Peter Smith added 16, highlighted by 4-7 shooting from the outside.
The Cougars, now 5-5 on the year, will travel to Claremont to play the NCAA Division III Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Friday afternoon before returning home.
