Jan. 26, 2010 - The Concordia Cougar men's basketball team notched their third win in the last four games with a 74-66 won on the home floor against neighbor Dominican University. The win improved the Cougars to 9-7 and moved them into a fourth-place tie in the NAC South with the Stars at 4-6.
As was the case in the win at Marian on Saturday, the Cougars got superb balance from their starters with all five scoring in double figures. Concordia shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half in opening up a 13-point halftime lead. The Cougars then had to withstand a strong three-point barrage by the Stars in the second half, but solid free-throw shooting and great ball protection (seven turnovers for the game) enabled the hosts to hang on and record the victory.
With Concordia leading 8-7 after five minutes of play, a basket by Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) ignited a 14-2 run. Gordon made his first start of the season after a solid performance at Marian, and he consistently challenged Dominican's bigger forwards underneath the basket all night long. Inside baskets by Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran), Devin Pankey (Inkster, MI/Romulus) and Justin Hineman (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) also contributed to the run that put Concordia up 22-9 midway through the half. The Cougars maintained a double-digit lead for most of the final nine minutes and led at the break 40-27.
The Cougars stretched their lead to 15 in the second half, but the Stars did not go away easily. Shooting just 3-11 from three-point range in the first half, the Stars came out firing and hitting. Consecutive threes by Darrius Nelson and Milos Mandic, both well behind the arc, trimmed the Cougars' lead to 66-62 with 2:11 remaining, but Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) hit jumpers on consecutive trips down the floor to offset a bucket by Durelle Garmon. Concordia then forced a turnover, and Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) was quickly fouled. He knocked down both ends of the one-and-one to put Concordia up by eight and help put a lock on Concordia's victory.
Concordia shot just 39 percent in the second half (12-31), but 9-12 shooting from the free throw line helped them overcome some of the misses. The Cougars finished the game 17 of 21 (81 percent) from the charity stripe.
Weberg led the Cougars with 19 points on 7013 shooting (2-4 threes) and 3-3 from the line. Hineman recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Gary's two late baskets gave him 13 points for the game, and Gordon and Young each added 12.
Dominican's Marquis Turley was held to just seven points by an aggressive Concordia defense. Milos Mandic led the Stars with 19 points while Darrius Nelson added 11 off the bench.
The Cougars will travel to Ann Arbor for this weekend's 60th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT). First up for Concordia-Chicago is the Concordia Nebraska Bulldogs at 3:00 (EST) on Friday afternoon. Links to the audio/video stream can be found on www.cucougars.com.
