Dec. 29, 2015 - The Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team will look ahead to the new year after closing out 2015 with a game they would like to forget. The Elmhurst College Bluejays, currently ranked sixth in NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, came into Geiseman Gymnasium this evening and controlled the game from start to finish, resulting in a 99-52 victory.

Two buckets by Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian) helped the Cougars forge an early 4-4 tie, but the Bluejays scored the next seven points, highlighted by a three from Bryant Ackerman. A third score from Walmer and a layup by Justin Mack (Bellwood, IL/Walther Lutheran) had the home team within 13-8, but another run of eight points put Elmhurst up by 13 points midway through the first half. The lead would never drop below double digits after that point as the Bluejays shot a sizzling 19-33 (58 percent) from the half and led 51-28 after 20 minutes.

Mitch Pelissier (Puyallup, WA/Mount Rainier Lutheran) scored the first points of the second half, but the Bluejays went on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes to expand the lead to over 30 points. The Cougars would hit a dry spell midway through the half before late threes by Pelissier, LaRon Wade (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) and Austin Walker (woodridge, IL/Downers Grove North) pulled a few points back, but the damage was already done.

Pelissier was the only Cougar to reach double figures, going 8-9 at the foul line as part of an 18-point performance. Walmer finished with nine points and three steals. For Elmhurst (10-1), who shot 57 percent for the game, they placed five players in double figures led by Kyle Wuest's 15. Will Noxon scored 14 on 7-9 shooting and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Concordia-Chicago (3-5) will return to conference action on Saturday when they travel to the Kern Center in Milwaukee to take on tthe Milwaukee School of Engineering.