Nov. 26, 2011 - Sister school rivals Concordia-Chicago and Concordia Wisconsin hooked up this afternoon in the first of two contests this season. While the Jan. 27 game will come as an eagerly-anticipated first-round matchup in the Concordia Invitational Tournament in River Forest, today's game in Mequon heralded the start of Northern Athletics Conference play. The Cougars were hoping to put their first win on the board for the new season, but the Falcons' three-point shooting decided this contest by a score of 89-63.
The Falcons' Nick Doedens had the hot hand early as he hit three of CUW's ten first-half treys to give the hosts a 17-13 lead, However, the Cougars came back on a three-point play by Issa Avery (Evanston, IL/St. Benedict) and a long three by Justin Hineman (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) to grab a 19-17 edge. Al Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, WI/Eisenhower) and the Falcons' David Lopez traded threes before Khirey Floyd (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) made good on a three-point play. Avery then converted a fast-break opportunity to give the Cougars their biggest lead at 27-20.
Taylor Rawlings (Rochester Hills, MI/Stoney Creek) scored moments later to put CUC up 29-23. However, the Cougars would then go scoreless for the next seven minutes while the Falcons reeled off 23 unanswered points. Zach Neumann hit a pair of threes, the second of which put the Falcons in front for good at 31-29. Avery finally ended the Falcons' run with a jumper at the 1:20 mark and added a three-pointer, but the Cougars still faced an uphill climb as they trailed 49-34 at the end of the half.
The Cougars had a good start to the second half and pulled within 56-49 on Floyd's three at the 13:59 mark. However, Mitchell Schneider restored the Falcons' double-digit lead with a three-point play. Doedens followed with a three, and the Falcons would pull away to a 20-point lead at the five minute mark before finally prevailing by the 26-point margin.
The Falcons finished 17-34 from behind the arc, led by Doedens' 7-9 and Neumann's 4-4. Doedens led all scorers with 26 points, followed by Schneider with 23 (4-9 on threes) and Neumann's 14. Avery led the Cougars with 21, followed by Floyd with 19. The Cougars edged the Falcons on the boards 34-33, led by Avery's seven, but the Falcons won the turnover battle in committing just 10 to the Cougars' 17.
Concordia-Chicago (0-4, 0-1) will return to action on Tuesday night when they host Dominican University.
