Jan. 2, 2013 - For the first part of tonight's men's basketball game, it appeared as if the Concordias of Chicago and Wisconsin would treat fans to another thrilling contest reminiscient of last January's game in the Concordia Invitational Tournament. But a 21-0 run late in the first half put the visiting Falcons in control, and they held off any serious challenges by the Cougars en route to a 79-63 victory.

Tonight's game was played at Dominican University's Igini Sports Forum due to the installation of new bleachers in CUC's Geiseman Gymnasium. Still, a good crowd was on hand to see the Cougars take an early lead. Tyler Oden (Chicago, IL/Marist) drilled a three for CUC's first points, and Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez), Shalav Hogue (Arad, Israel/Brotherhood) and Khirey Floyd (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) added baskets for a 9-6 lead. The Falcons came back to tie the game, but Elston's free throw at the 11:54 mark put the Cougars back into the lead at 12-11.

Steven Brodie's three following a CUW offensive rebound gave the Falcons the lead moments later, and the trey triggered a run of 21 straight points over the next six minutes. Three-point plays by Boubacar Camara and Keith Kahlfeldt helped the run along, and Mark Pace provided some strong inside play. Meanwhile, the Cougars missed on 11 consecutive shots from the field while also committing three turnovers. Aurtiro Houston's (Chicago, IL/Crane) jumper finally ended the run, and Taylor Rawlings' (Rochester Hills, MI/Stoney Creek) three and Elston's basket pulled the Cougars to within 32-19. However, the Falcons outscored the Cougars 6-3 over the final minutes to take a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The Cougars came out of the break by scoring the first two points on Houston's jumper, but 14 points was as close as they would come despite playing the visitors to a 41-41 tie over the final 20 minutes. Pace continued to hurt the Cougars inside en route to a game-high 18 points including a perfect 8-8 at the line. Camara also played a strong second half for CUW, scoring 10 of his 15 points; he would finish the game with 6-8 from the field and 3-3 at the line.

Elston paced the Cougars with a season-high 18 points (7-14 FG, 4-7 FT) while also contributing seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Oden finished with 10 points, two assists and one steal. The Cougars shot 35 percent from the field (20-48) compared to the Falcons' 48 percent (29-60). However, the most damaging stat from CUC's perspective came on the glass where the Falcons dominated by a 46-27 margin behind Steve Zielinski's nine.

Concordia-Chicago (1-10, 1-4 NAC) returns to action on Saturday when they play as part of a doubleheader at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.