Jan. 5, 2012 - The Concordia Cougar men's basketball team returned to Northern Athletics Conference action with tonight's game at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee. Both teams came in hoping to start off 2012 in a positive fashion after battling through difficult non-conference schedules in November and December. But it was the Cougars that made the stronger statement as they rode a hot-shooting first half and led most of the way in romping to a 75-59 victory.
Concordia made good on three of its first four shots from behind the arc including the opening basket of the game by Khirey Floyd (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest). However, much of the Cougars' attack in the first 10 minutes was directed inside. Led by Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) who pumped in 10 points on the strngth of 4-5 shooting, the Cougars took the early lead and got it up to double digits (27-17) with nine minutes remaining.
Continued hot shooting kept Concordia in the lead for much of the half; at one point, the Cougars were shooting 14-21 (67 percent) overall and 5-7 (71 percent) from three-point range, However, the Cougars got into trouble with turnovers, and the Warriors soon began to knock down some three-pointers. A pair of rainbows brought the home team witihin 35-32 with 2:25 left. But two free throws and a putback by Floyd extended the lead to seven at the half.
Gordon finished the half with 12 points on 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from the line. Al Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, WI/Eisenhower) was 3-3, all from three-point range as the Cougars shot 15-25 overall and 5-8 from downtown. Rebounds were also in favor of the Cougars 18-14, led by Justin Hineman's (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) six and Gordon's five.
Wisconsin Lutheran was paced by Tim DeMuth's nine points on three treys. The Warriors shot 13-34 overall for 38 percent, 4-13 (31 percent) on threes, but they limited their turnovers to six compared to the Cougars' 11.
The Warriors looked to take a page from the Cougars' book to open the second half, focusing their attack inside. The Cougars were able to keep their lead, however, as Issa Avery (Evanston, IL/St. Benedict) began to heat up. Held scoreless in the first half. Avery hit a baseline jumper, knocked down a pair of free throws after an offensive rebound, and fed Floyd for a fastbreak layup after a steal.
Smart defense enabled the Cougars to maintain and then build upon their lead. Gordon took a charge on a 3-1 Warriors' fast break and then followed with an inside score at the other end. Steals by Gordon and Keegan Johnson (Sycamore, IL/H.S.) led to a pair of buckets on the run, putting the Cougars up by 13 at the five-minute mark.
The Warriors made one last charge, cuttung their deficit to nine with 4:03 remaining. Freshman Taylor Rawlings (Sun Prairie, WI/H.S.) made a late-game contribution by hitting three free throws to slow the hosts' momentum, and Hineman followed with a 12-foot jumper from the left baseline to put the finishing touches on the Cougars' third victory in conference play.
Gordon led the final scoring with 20 points (8-11 shooting) and also pulled down nine rebounds. Floyd and Kahlfeldt scored 11 each while Avery finished with nine points and six assists. Hineman added eight points and captured a game-high 12 rebounds as Concordia won the boards by a 38-32 count.
Wisconsin Lutheran (2-10, 1-3 NAC) was led by Tim Demuth and Alex Merbach, each with 12 points. The Warriors shot 23-60 for 38 percent.
Concordia (3-9, 3-3 NAC) will go for two in a row next Wednesday when they return to Milwaukee for a game against MSOE.
