Box Score Nov. 28, 2017 – Coming off a big home win against St. Mary's University this past Saturday, the Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team went looking for two in a row tonight, along with their first win in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. Their opponent was the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors, looking for their first win following an 0-3 start. As was expected by way of recent results, the game featured a ton of offense. In the end, however, it was WLC that outlasted the Cougars by a final score of 106-98.

Jarek Hotwagner got the Cougars' offense rolling with a three and a putback, but the Warriors' Tyler DeYoung knocked down three early shots for an 8-7 lead. The Cougars then went cold for a spell while the home team shot over 50 percent  in taking a 19-11 lead.
Trailing by seven midway through the half, CUC used the long ball to get back into the chase. Israel Dosie knocked down a three for his first points of the night, and Sawyer Concklin followed with a long one from the top to make it a three-point game. The Warriors answered with two points on a fast break, but Henry Woo kept the threes coming with a rainbow, and the Cougars kept the pressure on. Dosie 's layup answered a pair of WLC free throws, and Mitch Pelissier's three-point play put the visitors back in the lead at 27-26.

Wisconsin Lutheran responded with a quick 5-0 run to retake the lead, and they maintained it with some opportunistic play down the stretch. Collin Kennedy finished off a couple of fast breaks as WLC extended the lead into double digits for the first time all night. Hotwagner converted a three-point play to get the Cougars back within nine, but Mack Knueppel hit a three at the buzzer as Wisconsin Lutheran took a 51-39 lead into the locker room.

The Warriors kept an above-average shooting percentage from the field, connecting on 20-38 for 53 percent.  Part of that was attributable to 11 offensive rebounds which led to 11 second-chance points. The Cougars shot 14 of 31 (45 percent) for the half, but they were at a more severe disadvantage on the boards as they collected just 12 to WLC's 25.

As the second half started, Jonathan Wilson got into the flow of the CUC offense. Limited to five first-half minutes because of fouls, Wilson scored a couple of baskets, one on a putback as the Cougars clawed back to within eight. Woo added a running jumper to make it a six-point game, and Wilson scored again off a nice feed from Woo. The momentum built for CUC as Pelissier drove the baseline for a layup and Justin Schwarz nailed a three from the left corner as Concordia-Chicago pulled within 62-58.

The ebb and flow continued as the Warriors went back up by double digits, but the pace of the game slowed as the game degenerated into a foul fest, with both teams reaching the double bonus and still nine minutes to play.

The Cougars made some adjustments and still had one more run left in them. Trailing by ten, Justin Schwarz was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three. Wilson scored inside again for a 10-point half, and Dosie's fast break three-point play made the score Warriors 89, Cougars 85. However, the Warriors scored on their next two possessions and hit their free throws in the final minutes to pull away.

Collin Kennedy was the Warriors' man of the hour as he scored 36 points (12-24 FG, 12-14 FT) and pulled down 16 rebounds. Chase Nowak added 17 points, 13 in the second half, and Tyler DeYoung scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds. The boards were indeed the determining factor in the game, won by the home team 49-29.

For Concordia-Chicago, Pelissier scored 22 points, followed by Hotwagner with 19 points and seven rebounds. Dosie chipped in with 17 points and five assists.  Woo just missed being the fifth CUC starter in double figures as he scored eight points, but he dished out a team-leading eight assists.

"I liked the way we battled tonight, but we made it difficult on ourselves at times too," said CUC head coach Randy Rogers. "It's great we're averaging over 90 points per game, but it won't mean much if we can't get our defense and rebounding in better shape."

The Cougars (1-3, 0-2 NACC) will continue this busy week on Thursday when they host Benedictine University. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.