Dec. 1, 2015 - Through just the first two games of the 2015-16 season, it is apparent to all that the Concordia University Cougars can score with the basketball. Unfortunately,they would run into another team on Tuesday night that can score the basketball very well themselves. In the end, it was the Aurora University Spartans that rode their hot shooting to a 126-95 win despite a career-high 38 points by Concordia-Chicago's Kylan Anderson (Chicago, IL/home schooled).

The Cougars were not intimidated by the Spartans who posted a 3-0 record coming into tonight's game. Tyler Hall got Aurora on the board first, and scored the first seven points for the Spartans. The Cougars fought back with threes by Anderson and Mitch Pelissier (Puyallup, WA/Mount Rainier Lutheran). It was the Anderson and Pelissier show over the first five minutes of the half as they scored all 13 of the points to start the game for CUC. Anderson would get the Cougar fans and bench on their feet after a big three pointer that gave the Cougars their only lead of the night at 13-11.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, that lead lasted only 18 seconds before Nick Kladis gave the hosts the lead for good. After the Anderson three, Aurora peeled off an 18-0 run stretching just over four minutes in length to give the Spartans the 29-13 lead before a free throw by Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) finally ended the streak. Aurora continued to have their way on the offensive end, stretching the lead to as many as 28 in the first half. The torrid pace continued between the teams from the opening tip until the halftime buzzer. The Spartans headed to the locker room after 20 minutes leading the Cougars by a score of 73-46.

Anderson and Pelissier combined for 35 of the Cougars 46 points in the half on 11-21 shooting. Unfortunately for CUC, Aurora would shoot .615 in the first half on 24-39 shooting from the floor. The Cougars also found themselves in foul trouble, with the Spartans knocking down 17-23 free throws.

Despite the score, the Cougars came out in the second half and showed a lot of heart and fight. A Justin Saar (Tracy, CA/Merrill F. West) layup cut into the 29-point Aurora lead. The Cougars then forced back-to-back turnovers, leading to a Pelissier three-pointer and layup, forcing an Aurora timeout with 14:48 remaining.  The two teams continued to play a very fast-paced game, with the Cougars applying continuous full-court pressure throughout.  The Cougars tried to rally one more time with a 6-0 run at the 10:52 mark in which Anderson created multiple good looks for himself and be able to get to the free throw line. That run would get the Cougars within 20, but the rally would stall there.Aurora would be able to stretch the lead out to as many as 34, but the Cougars would continue to battle till the final buzzer.

Anderson finished the game with a career high 38 points on 12-25 shooting (five threes) and 9-11 from the line. Pelissier backed up his strong career-opening game against Fontbonne with an encore of 25 points on 8-13 shooting from the floor including four threes and five points from the line. DeAires Blackwell (Chicago, IL/St. Rita) finished the night with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cougars (0-2, 0-1 NACC) will look to get their first win of the year this coming Saturday when they will take on Edgewood College in the home opener. Opening tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Geiseman Gymnasium.