Feb. 6, 2016 - The Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team had reason to be confident entering this afternoon's home game against Marian University. Not only had the Cougars defeated the Sabres in the first meeting of the season, but CUC was also going for their second win this week after an exciting win Tuesday over Maranatha Baptist. However, Marian controlled the game from the opening few minutes and dashed CUC's hopes with a 91-66 victory.

Marian's Alex Manhardt took game-high honors with 22 points and 13 rebounds, and he got off to a fast start. Manhardt scored four points and pulled down two rebounds as the visiting Sabres jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Justin Mack (Bellwood, IL/Walther Lutheran) finally got the Cougars on the board with a layup at the 17:40 mark, but the Sabres answered with a three by Reggie Roemer as they maintained the early advantage. 

Nearing the midway point of the half. the Cougars showed signs of warming up as Adam Castro (Chicago, IL/Guerin Prep) and Justin Saar (Tracy, CA/Merrill F. West) connected on threes. However, the Cougars then went cold for nearly six minutes, and the Sabres capitalized with the next 14 points to take a 36-14 lead. Concordia-Chicago looked to chip away at the lead before halftime, getting threes by Kyle Hoffman (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) and Mike Walmer (Orlando, FL/Orlando Christian), but they could only make small inroads as Marian held a 49-31 lead at the break.

The two teams played on even terms for the first part of the second half. However, trailing 62-45, the Cougars made their move. Israel Dosie's (Chicago, IL/Al Raby) three and Walmer's three-point play sandwiched a basket by Marian. Moments later, Rodney Castor (Fort Myers, FL/H.S.) hit two free throws to bring Concordia-Chicago within 11 at 64-53. Marian's offense had hit a dry spell, and CUC had a couple of chances to cut the visitor's lead to single digits. However, the Cougars were unsuccessful on their next couple of chances and, eventually, a pair of threes by MU's Connor Morovits restored the lead to 17. Marian regained their momentum as CUC would get no closer than 15 for the duration of the game.

Walmer led the Cougars with 18 points while DeAires Blackwell (Chicago, IL/St. Rita) contributed a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Cougars will play at Benedictine University on Tuesday night at 7:00.  .