Jan. 11, 2014 - In the approximate quarter-century since NCAA basketball adopted the three-point rule, it is fairly safe to say that today's men's basketball game between the Concordia-Chicago Cougars and the host Edgewood Eagles was like very few. After missing their first 22 shots of the game from three-point range, Edgewood knocked down five of its last six in the final 5:05 of the game to steal a 63-57 victory
Both teams started out with a deliberate style of play. Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) scored the first points of the game, and Justin Saar's (Tracy, CA/Merrill F. West) three went down the hole for a 5-0 lead. The Cougars maintained the lead with a tough perimeter defense. Edgewood missed its first 10 shots from three-point range and shot just 5-18 overall for the opening 10 minutes.
While the Eagles never got on track with the shooting in the half, they did stay close by converting some second-chance opportunities. The Cougars continued to go inside on the Eagles, although they missed some chances to extend the lead by cashing in just three of seven free throws. Nevertheless, Concordia held the lead for the entire half, their margin at the break standing at 24-19.
The beginning of the second half saw the hosts tighten things up, but both defenses refused to allow any easy points. Two free throws by Justin Williams gave Edgewood its first lead at 28-27, and Joe Klocek followed with a short jumper, but Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) quickly drew the Cougars back even with a three-point play. The teams exchanged baskets over the next couple of minutes before Elston's layup at the 11:24 mark let the Cougars regain the lead at 36-34.
It looked as if the Cougars were about to take control of the game as three more points by Elston over the next few minutes stretched the lead to five. An Edgewood free throw made the score 39-35, but Concordia outscored the hosts 6-2 to make the score CUC 45, EC 37 with 5:54 remaining.
Dylan Rusch scored for Edgewood to trim the lead to six. Then, after the Cougars missed a shot at the other end, Brett Meinecke hit the home team's first three after 22 misses to bring life to the Eagles. Kostas Doxakis (Thessaloniki, Greece) answered with a 15-foot jumper, but that would only slow the momentum briefly.
Two free throws by Joe Klocek made it a three-point game, and Rusch then tied the game on the next possession with a long one. An offensive foul gave the ball back to Edgewood, leading to the key play of the game. As the shot clock hit under 10 seconds, Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) appeared to have a steal, but the Eagles kept the ball alive. The shot clock did not reset, and Tal Diekvoss wound up with the ball outside the arc on the left side. With time winding down, Diekvoss put up a 25-footer that swished as the buzzer went off. Edgewood had the lead at 50-47 with 2:54 left, and this lead change would be the final one of the game.
The Eagles made two more threes over the next few minutes, each one answering scores by the Cougars. Concordia kept up the pressure with Dixakis hitting a clutch three, but Edgewood salted this one away by making their final seven free throws in the last 35 seconds.
Klocek's 20 points and Justin Williams' 12 points and nine rebounds led the Eagles (8-6, 6-3 NACC). For Concordia, Elston and Stinson tied for scoring honors with 17 points each. Elston pulled down 12 rebounds to mark his fourth consecutive double-double while Stinson collected nine boards.
The Cougars (5-8, 2-7 NACC) will look to get back on track Tuesday night when they travel down Division Street to take on Dominican University.
