Feb. 19, 2014 - There have been many "Battles for River Forest" over the years between the Concordia Cougars and Dominican Stars, but one would be hard-pressed to find one in which more shots were fired. The two rivals treated their fans to a shootout at Geiseman Gymnasium this evening, and the Cougars finally prevailed behind a 58-point second half to shoot down the Stars by a 92-84 final.
The offense did not click immediately for the Cougars as they missed seven of their first nine shots. The Stars would take advantage by concentrating their attack on the interior and getting some close-in baskets and free throws. Dominican cashed in eight free throws during the first 10 minutes to lead 23-15.
Concordia seized its first bit of momentum with the entrance of freshman Justin Saar (Tracy, CA/Merrill F. West)into the game. Saar hit a pair of threes from nearly the identical spot in the left corner. Kevin Tiongson hit a three to stem the tide momentarily, but the Cougars kept coming.
Kostas Doxakis' (Thessaloniki, Greece) three pulled CUC to within a point, and
Brandon Stinson (Schiller Park, IL/East Leyden) gave the home team its first lead moments later with two free throws. A jumper by Doxakis and another free throw by Stinson closed out the half with Concordia leading 34-30.
Dominican opened the second half with freshman guard Josh Mayberry connecting on one of his seven threes. But Concordia responded with a run of eight unanswered points. Six of the eight came from Nat Pearson (Palatine, IL/H.S.) including a three-point play. The Stars fought back as Mayberry began to heat up, but Jacob Oakley's (Sun Prairie, WI/H.S.) three at the 15:09 mark gave CUC its first double-digit lead at 49-38. As the pace picked up, both teams began to accumulate fouls. However, the frequent whistles did not upset the Cougars. They would continue to shoot lights out, going 17 for 25 (68 percent) in the second half. The Cougars' lead reached its highest at the 9:49 mark as freshman Kyle Hoffman (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) hit for three from the wing. The Stars would make matters tense down the stretch, and they pulled to within 73-69 with 4:12 left. But Marcus Elston (Chicago, IL/Benito Juarez), playing his final collegiate game, worked inside for a layup. A turnover led to Pearson's jumper, and Elston's rebound of a Stars' miss led to Stinson's runner in the lane, putting the Cougars up 79-69 with 2:39 left. Concordia closed out the game at the free throw line with only Stinson's banker as the exception in the final minutes. Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) scored CUC's final five points, three coming after the Stars had closed to within five at the 21-second mark. Stinson and Walmer led the Cougars with 19 points each. Stinson's 10 assists gave him the double-double, and the 6'3" swingman also captured seven rebounds. Elston added 16 points and 13 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season. Pearson scored 11 points, and Saar tallied 10 to round out the Cougars' balanced attack.
Mayberry's game-high 26 points came on 9-14 shooting from the field, 7-9 from three-point range and 1-1 from the free throw line. Also in double figures for the Stars were Taylor DeRoo with 16, Tiongson with 14 and Kyle Sherwin with 10.
Concordia finished the season 6-19, 3-17 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.
