Jan. 18, 2014 - One can understand why the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team might not put much stock in the law of averages. The Cougars took the floor this afternoon against the Milwaukee School of Engineering following a two-point loss to Dominican University on Tuesday night and a one-point loss to Aurora University on Thursday night. Concordia-Chicago looked to have a victory in hand against the Raiders, but two free throws by MSOE's John Cording with 6.8 seconds left gave the visitors a 65-64 victory.
The Cougars opened the game by attacking inside. Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) and Jared Gosse (Green Bay, WI/NEW Lutheran) combined for the first six points, and Nat Pearson (Palatine, IL/H.S.) connected on a jumper for an 8-2 lead. Tactics changed slightly after Elston picked up his second foul at the 14:27 mark and was forced to the bench for a while. The Raiders capitalized by scoring the next eight points to take a 10-8 lead.
The game was tied 12-12 when MSOE found its three-point touch. Austin Stueck, Jeremiah Erdmann and Stueck again hit threes witin a three-minute span. However, Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) kept the Cougars in the running as he drilled consecutive threes. Stinson also came up with a steal and scored on a breakaway to keep CUC within a point at 21-20.
The remainder of the half was played close to the vest. Stueck's jumper gave MSOE a 30-28 lead in the final minute, but Stinson answered it with 14 ticks on the clock, closing out a 14-point half. Pearson then blocked Stueck's three attempt just before the buzzer to keep the halftime score knotted at 30-30.
MSOE began the second half with an 8-0 run. The Raiders focused their attack inside, looking to put Elston and Gosse into even deeper foul trouble. But Elston would later begin to counter on the other end to keep the Cougars close. The Cougars also got a 10-point contribution in the second half from freshman Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) to keep the visitors from running away.
With the Raiders still leading by eight and six minutes to play, the Cougars made a charge behind a rare five-point play. Kostas Doxakis (Thessaloniki, Greece) drilled a three from the left wing as Walmer was getting fouled underneath the basket. With CUC already in the double bonus, Walmer went to the line for two free throws and hit them both. Following a defensive stop, Elston split a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game. Then, Elston rebounded a Raiders' miss and scored on the other end off a slick feed from Doxakis to tie the game 56-56 with 4:42 left.
The teams matched baskets over the next couple of minutes. Stinson's three gave CUC a 63-60 lead, but Stueck equalized with a long three from the right side. Stinson then gave the Cougars their final lead with a free throw at the 1:08 mark. Moments later, the Raiders missed a three with Gosse collecting the rebound, and the Cougars had a chance to build on the lead.
The Cougars worked almost the entire shot clock, but a missed three gave the ball over to the Raiders with 16.5 seconds left. The Raiders got the ball to Cording who drove into the lane from the left side and was fouled as he put up a 10-footer in the lane. Cording calmly sank both shots to make it MSOE 65, CUC 64.
Concordia-Chicago got the ball across halfcourt and called time with 4.5 left. On the ensuing inbounds, Stinson got the ball and drove towards the lane before kicking the ball to Walmer on the right side. As Walmer was about to go up for
the shot, Cording made a great play to strip the ball away as time expired.
The final stats showed MSOE shooting 25-54 (46 percent) to CUC's 22-50 (44 percent). Each team made six three-point field goals while the Cougars had an edge on the foul line, 14-20 (70 percent) to MSOE's 9-14 (64 percent). The Raiders collected four more rebounds (34-30) and committed two more turnovers (14-12).
MSOE's Stueck led all scorers with 25 points (9-16 FG, 3-6 3FG, 4-4 FT), followed by Patterson with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Jaren Singh's 12. For the Cougars, Stinson tallied 18 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3FG, 3-4 FT). Walmer scored 13 points, and Elston finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Concordia-Chicago (5-11, 2-10 NACC) will play at Rockford University on Wednesday night.
