Jan. 27, 2017 – One of the tougher challenges of playing in the Concordia Invitational Tournament is drawing the home team on the first night of competition in front of a packed house. That was the challenge awaiting the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team this evening as they faced the Concordia Nebraska Bulldogs at the Walz Arena in Seward. The Cougars put up a game effort, but the Bulldogs had too many weapons this evening as they prevailed by a 104-82 score.

The Bulldogs began with the three ball nailing two for a quick 6-0 lead. Mitch Pelissier got the Cougars on the board with his first two baskets, but the Bulldogs stayed hot as Eli Ziegler later hit a three for a 15-4 lead.

Kris Claybon entered the game for the Cougars and provided a lift as he scored twice inside and soon after blocked a shot by CUNE's 6' 10" center Justin Damme. Then it was Jarek Hotwagner's turn to heat up as he knocked down the medium-range jumpers. Hotwagner would go on to score 12 first-half points and lead the Cougars at the break, but CUC trailed 46-36.
The shooting and turnover stats after 20 minutes were practically even, but the Bulldogs owned a 24-17 rebounding advantage. Seward did a lot of damage inside as 6'8" Chandler Folkerts shot 4-4 and also 4-4 at the free throw line for 12 points. The Bulldogs also knocked down five threes in the half while Evan Snyder scored CUC's lone triple.

Rodrigo Nava and Pelissier scored in the early moments of the second half, but eight points was as close as the Cougars would come. Folkerts scored twice inside, one on a monstrous dunk, and the Bulldogs ran off 12 consecutive points before Claybon ended it with his first three of the season. The Cougars played hard to the end, but the Bulldogs' combination of three-point shooting and inside strength were too much for CUC to make a sustained run.

Pelissier led the Cougars with 21 points while Israel Dosie and Hotwagner added 12 each. Folkerts led four CUNE players in double figures with 20 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 55 percent for the game on 40-73 while the Cougars were 48 percent at 31-64.

The Cougars will play Concordia University Wisconsin in the third place game at 2 p.m. on Saturday. This will be the second of three meetings this year between the conference rivals, although it will not count in the NACC standings.