The Raiders came out smoking from three-point range and built an early lead. Austin Stueck and Jaren Singh knocked down the first two tries from long range for a 10-2 lead. Nat Pearson (Palatine, IL/H.S.) answered with a trey from the top of the key to start the Cougars on the way back. But MSOE remained hot from outside and built their lead up to 24-14 when Dylan Jones canned the home team's sixth three of the half.
Concordia's defense picked up the tempo soon after and allowed the visitors to rally. Brandon Stinson's (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) offensive rebound and three-point play was a key play down the stretch. In the final seconds of the half, Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez) provided momentum going into the locker room as he stole the ball and drove three-quarters the length of the court to lay the ball in and put the Cougars down just three points at 32-29.
As the second half began, the Raiders returned to the three-balls to keep the Cougars at bay. John Cording had one of the threes and also scored on a steal and layup to put the hosts back up 43-34.
The Raiders led by 46-38 when the Cougars made their move. Walmer scored five straight points, and Elston followed with a three-point play to tie the game with 12:04 remaining.
The hosts briefly regained the lead, but the Cougars were not to be denied down the stretch. Stinson's two free throws gave CUC the lead for good at 58-57. Kostas Doxakis (Thessaloniki, Greece) and Walmer followed with jumpers off of MSOE turnovers for a five-point edge. Doxakis then answered two Raider scores with a layup and a three before the Cougars wrapped up the victory with some clutch free throws.
Doxakis finished with 18 of his 21 points in the second half. The Cougars' sophomore transfer guard shot 8-10 from the field and was perfect on all three of his three-pointers and both his free throws. Elston scored 19 points (6-12 FG, 7-10 FT) and pulled down 10 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double and sixth of the season. Walmer totaled 16 points (5-9 FG, 6-9 FT), six rebounds, three steals and a season-high seven assists, and Stinson recorded 14 points (5-7 FG, 4-7 FT) and six rebounds.
For MSOE (9-3, 4-3 NACC), John Cording led all scorers with 23 points (7-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 6-7 FT) and also tallied seven assists and three steals. Stueck finished with 19 points (7-16 FG, 5-12 3FG) and four assists.
Concordia-Chicago (4-7, 1-6 NACC) will look to make it two in a row on Wednesday night when they host Concordia University Wisconsin. This will be the first of two games in January between the Cougars and Falcons, the second coming on Jan. 24 in the first round of the 63rd annual Concordia Invitational Tournament.
