Dec. 7, 2013 - Despite holding the lead for 39 of the first 40 minutes, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars let this afternoon's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game against Edgewood College get away. The Eagles tied the game with 2.5 seconds remaining in the second half and then outscored the Cougars 17-11 in overtime to escape with a 77-71 victory.
Justin Saar (Tracy, CA/Merrill F. West) got the Cougars off to a good start with a pair of threes, the second giving CUC an 11-8 lead. Saar later connected on his third three of the half after Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) had finished a couple of fast breaks, and Concordia had its first double-digit lead of the game at 22-12.
With five minutes left in the half, a pair of baskets by Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) lifted CUC to its largest lead at 15 points (32-17). The lead stood at 13 with two minutes left before Edgewood closed the half with a 7-0 burst. Joe Klocek's three beat the horn as the Eagles trimmed the Cougars' lead to 38-32 after 20 minutes.
The second half saw both teams struggle from the field, but the Cougars still held the lead. When Nat Pearson (Palatine, IL/H.S.) scored at the 12:43 mark, CUC had the lead back up to 10 points at 50-40. But the Cougars missed their next nine shots from the field and went scoreless for the next six minutes. The Egles scored nine points during that span before Marcus Elston's fast-break layup ended the dry spell and made the score Cougars 52, Eagles 49.
Two scores by Pearson bumped the lead back up to seven with 4:24 left, but Dylan Rusch came to the rescue for the visitors. A three and two free throws put the lead back down to two. The Cougars then missed three of their next four free throws as Edgewood crept within one point.
With 57 seconds left, Walmer hit two free throws for a 59-56 lead. The Eagles came down and missed three potential game-tying shots but were able to corral the offensive rebounds each time. Klocek then hit a 15-foot jumper to make the score 59-58. A quick foul put Walmer at the line with 12.1 seconds left, and he split the pair to make it a two-point game.
Rusch dribbled the ball down court and he was fouled as he prepared to make his move to the basket. The Eagles' guard calmly sank both shots with 2.5 seconds left to tie the score at 60-60. The Cougars were unable to get off a shot, and the game headed into overtime.
Stinson gave the Cougars a two-point lead, but it would be their only lead of the overtime. Trevor Neale's three-point play gave the visitors the edge, and Neale followed with another layup for a 65-62 lead. Moments later, Tal Diekvoss hit a clutch three as the Eagles began to pull away.
Rusch would seal the victory as he hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds. Rusch finished the game 10-11 from the line as part of his team-leading 20 points.
Following Rusch were Klocek with 17, Neale with 11 and Matt Savatski with 10. Edgewood hit just 25 of 67 (37 percent) from the field but canned 19 of 27 free throws. The Eagles claimed a 56-36 advantage on the boards, led by eight each from Klocek and Neale.
Pearson led the Cougars with 21 points, 10-20 shooting from the field, and eight rebounds. Stinson added 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Concordia-Chicago (2-5, 0-4 NACC) will return to action next Saturday at Marian University.
