Cougars Notch Huge Road Win, Season Sweep of Aurora

Feb. 8, 2012 - The Concordia Cougars came into tonight's game with the host Aurora Spartans tied for third place in the South Division of the Northern Athletics Conference. With the third team of the trio, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, on the schedule for Saturday, tonight's game was a significant one for the Cougars. In the end, the Cougars came through with a huge win, not only beating the Spartans but also sweeping the season series for the first time since 1992-93.

Marlin Vilius (Eustis, FL/H.S.), inserted into the starting lineup, gave the Cougars an early spark with two of the team's first four baskets. The Spartans regrouped behind 6'5" forward Ryan Crow (23 points) and took a brief lead at 10-8, but Charles Gordon (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) attacked Aurora's interior and put Concordia back into the lead. Freshman Taylor Rawlings (Rochester Hills, MI/Stoney Creek) provided a lift off the bench with seven points including a three from the right corner to help extend the Cougars' lead as high as nine points.

Aurora came back to tie the game on threes by Mike Bumber and Joel Iventosch, but Issa Avery's (Evanston, IL/St. Benedict) drilled a three from the left side. Avery's bucket came with 1:08 left and went as the final points of the half, Concordia taking a 35-32 lead to the locker room.

Both defenses forced their opponents into low shooting percentages for the half. Aurora was 10-32 for 31 percent with Concordia only slightly better at 12-32 (38 percent). The Spartans' Crow led all scorers with 13 points, but the Cougars had balance from Rawlings with seven, Gordon with six and Avery with five.

Gordon's steal and layup got the Cougars off right for the second half. Baskets by Justin Hineman (Hartland, WI/Arrowhead), Gordon and Johnson added to the 8-1 run that pushed Concordia's lead to 10 points at 43-33. Back came Aurora again with seven straight before Avery's three broke the hosts' momentum. Two buckets by Hineman and two free throws by Avery made it a nine-point run and put Concordia's lead at 52-40 with 13:20 remaining.

The Spartans cut the lead to seven before Al Kahlfeldt (New Berlin, WI/Eisenhower) buried a three to stem the tide. Kahlfeldt later hit a fall-away three from the left corner to beat the shot clock and put Concordia's lead at 14.

John Laskowski attempted to rally the Spartans with some strong inside play, but the Cougars were able to weather the home team's final blast with some clutch free throws down the stretch. Concordia went to the line for 23 free throws in the second half and knocked down 17 of them.

Gordon led Concordia with 17 points (4-10 FG, 9-14 FT) as four of the starters scored in double figures. But head coach Tyler Jones noted an important aspect of this victory: "Our bench gave us 25 points tonight and helped us through some key stretches. They hit some big shots but also gave us some tough defense and good energy." Kahlfeldt finished with 12 points, nine in the second half, and Rawlings scored nine.

Concordia's win and Dominican's upset of Benedictine moved the Cougars into a tie for second place with the Eagles and one game ahead of both Aurora and MSOE who lost to Rockford. The Cougars will host MSOE on Saturday (Senior Day) following the women's game at 4:15 p.m.