Feb. 19, 2011 - The Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team faced Maranatha Baptist Bible College in this afternoon's Northern Athletics Conference Challenge Game at Geiseman Gymnasium. The Cougars (9-16) made sure that their seniors' final game would be a victory, and they delivered with a 62-50 win.
It looked as if this game would be decided early as the Cougars took a 12-0 lead after the first seven minutes. Five different Cougars scored with Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) providing a crowd-pleasing breakaway dunk for one of his two baskets. David Swanson's three-point play at the 12:12 mark got the Crusaders on the board, but the Cougars kept a comfortable cushion until the midway point of the half. Swanson's layup narrowed the gap to 18-12, but threes by Jeff Weberg (Rockford, IL/Lutheran) and Ryan Tyszkiewicz (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) over the next few minutes pushed the lead back up to 14 points. The Crusaders answered with a 7-2 run to make the halftime score Concordia 28, Maranatha 19.
Maranatha's Brendan Brown hit a pair of threes early in the second half, but Weberg answered with a long trey to keep the visitors at bay. The Crusaders pressured the Cougars over the first 10 minutes of the half, getting as close as four, but a couple of strong bench efforts enabled Concordia to withstand the pressure. Tony Kay (Walnut, IL/Bureau Valley) chipped in with five points and four rebounds in a seven-minute stretch. Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.) put the Cougars up nine by skying above a crowd for a tip-in, and he later scored on a driving layup despite being fouled and hitting the ground hard (Kay would take the ensuing free throw for Vilius). Maranatha made one last-ditch attempt as Matt McGivern's three with 4:38 left made the score 56-47. However, Larrell Gary (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) was fouled on a three-point shot, and senior drained all three throws to take the final wind out of the Crusaders' sails.
Weberg was the only player from either side to score in double figures. He shot 6-9 from the field (2-5 threes) and 2-4 from the line for 16 points. Vilius finiswhed with nine points while Gordon added eight points and six rebounds. Deontay Young (Chicago, IL/Lincoln Park) scored six points to go with nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
