Jan. 28, 2011 - Third-year Cougar men's coach Tyler Jones has enjoyed some memorable wins in his tenure at Concordia. But he claims that none have been bigger than tonight's 71-58 win over Concordia University Nebraska in the first round of the 60th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Cougars will advance to Saturday night's title game against the host school who defeated Concordia Wisconsin 85-81 in the other first-round game.
A look at Cougars' CIT history gives solid backing to Jones' claim. While the Cougar men last appeared in the CIT championship game in 2008, they have not won the tournament since 1998. Moreover, the Cougars had not defeated the Bulldogs since 1993 when they pulled out a last-second win in the title game at Geiseman Gymnasium.
Concordia-Chicago controlled the game for 40 minutes, trailing only at 2-0. Six early points by
Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) helped the Cougars to answer with a 13-0 run that was also aided by a
Jacob O'Hara (Sheffield Village, OH/Lutheran West) three.
The Cougars maintained a double-digit lead for much of the half. The lead peaked at 18 late in the half on Weberg's basket before the Bulldogs scored the final six points to close within 34-22 at the break.
Tremendous balance by the Cougar offense was the story of the half. While Weberg tallied 11 points to lead all scorers, 10 different players hit the scoresheet. That included contributions from seniors
Lono Brazil (Chicago. IL/Lincoln Park) and
Tony Kay (Walnut, IL/Bureau Valley), both of whom were in the starting lineup and gave Coach Jones some quality minutes.
Concordia Nebraska came out for the second half determined to chip away at the Chicagoans' lead, However, while the Bulldogs trimmed it to nine on a couple of occasions, the Cougars always had a timely answer
. Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young), who was limited to six minutes in the first half due to fouls, scored seven of CUC's first nine points. Threes by Weberg and
Ryan Tyszkiewicz (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) helped keep the Cougars' lead in the mid-teens. Late in the game, a couple of pretty plays effectively sealed the game for Chicago. First, Brazil came flying in alone from the right side to rebound a missed shot and lay the ball in. Then, with the Bulldogs' defense scrambling, O'Hara found Tyszkiewicz all alone under the basket for a layup and a 14-point lead with just four minutes left.
Weberg led the Cougars with 22 points while Gary shot 6-10 on his way to 13 points. Tyszkiewicz added a season-high 10 points. Concordia-Chicago shot 26-57 (46 percent) while holding Nebraska to 20-60 (33 percent) and just five of 24 from three-point range. Once again, the Cougars did an excellent job of taking care of the ball, committing just nine turnovers.
The win put the Cougars at 10-7 and marked their third straight season of double-digit wins under Jones. Prior to Jones' arrival, the Cougars had won in double figures just once in the previous 10 seasons.
