Cougars Feel Foul in Close Loss to Spartans
Jan. 23, 2013 - While anyone looking solely at the teams' records might have predicted tonight's matchup between Concordia University Chicago and Aurora University as a mismatch, the game was another typically close battle between the two long-time rivals. The Cougars battled the South Division leaders through 40 tense and exciting minutes before the Spartans' 6-0 run in the final 1:15 tipped the scales to Aurora by a score of 78-75.
The Cougars and Spartans did not take long to push the tempo.
Khirey Floyd (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) and
Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) each scored twice in the early going, and
Joel Kosberg (Anthem, AZ/Valley Lutheran) made his first try from long distance for an early 11-5 lead. However, Aurora's Esteban Vega found the range from downtown twice to help the Spartans even up the score.
The score was tied again at the 12:21 mark when
Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) checked into the game for the Cougars. Elston was seeing his first action since Jan. 5, but the 6'4" junior made up for lost time. Elston hit a three from the right wing, his first trey of the season, and later scored on a fast break as Concordia reclaimed the lead at 20-17.
Aurora came back behind threes by Vega and Jordan Hester to take its largest lead at 27-22. But Concordia rallied again as Stinson hit threes on consecutive trips down the floor. Rawlings then made good on a three-point play and a baseline jumper, and the Cougars claimed a 33-31 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The second half began with both teams keeping things at a fast pace.
Aurtiro Houston (Chicago, IL/Crane) gave the Cougars a lift with a layup and a three-point play. The Spartans countered by going to 6'8" Kyle Pilmer who scored eight of Aurora's first 10 points.
The pace of the game soon slowed as fouls were whistled more frequently. Aurora got into the bonus first, and a string of free throws helped them build a 60-53 lead with 8:39 remaining. However, Concordia fought back again as Stinson and Rawlings scored.
Tyler Oden (Chicago, IL/Marist) then nailed a three from the left wing, and the Cougars had caught the Spartans with just under five minutes remaining.
Trailing by one at the two-minute mark, Houston hit a 13-foot jumper and two free throws to push the Cougars in front 75-73. But Mark Adams went to the line with 57 seconds left, and he hit the pair of free throws to bring the hosts within one. A traveling call gave the ball back to the Spartans with 35 seconds left. Vega missed a jumper from the key, but Pilmer rebounded and laid the ball in with 17.5 seconds left to put Aurora back into the lead.
Concordia called timeout to set up a final play, but Stinson was whistled for a charge with 8.8 seconds left. Aurora inbounded the ball, Concordia fouled quickly, and Joel Iventosch hit both free throws for a three-point lead. The Cougars had one final chance to tie, but Stinson's three from the left was off the mark as time expired.
The Cougars kept up a consistently good shooting game in the second half, and they finished the game with 29 of 57 for 51 percent from the field and 11 of 15 from the line for 73 percent. Rawlings shot 6-11 and finished with 15 points. Stinson was 6-12 for 14 points, and Houston scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
Pilmer led the Spartans (14-5, 9-1 NAC) with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Adams added 18 points as he and Pilmer combined to shoot 16-22 from the field. Vega contributed 13 points and four assists. The Spartans went to the line 26 times for the game (22 in the second half) and connected on 17 for 65 percent. Aurora shot just 40 percent on 28-70 from the field, but they won the boards by a substantial 46-30 margin. Half of their rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to a total of 25 second-chance points.
Concordia-Chicago (2-16, 2-9 NAC) will head to Nebraska for two games at the 62nd annual Concordia Invitational Tournament this weekend. Friday's first-round game will be against the host school Concordia Nebraska.
