Jan. 25, 2018 - By any accounts, the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball season has been a frustrating one. While the team has been largely competitive, a 2-15 record is not what third-year head coach Randy Rogers and his players were expecting at the two-thirds mark of the season. 

And yet, the last couple weeks have shown signs of progress as the team looks to finish the season and cast a positive eye on next year. The last three games have resulted in two overtime games and a rock-solid performance over Dominican University that resulted in the Cougars' second win of the season and first in conference play. Now, as the Cougars prepare for this weekend's competition in the 67th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament in Mequon, WI, the hopes are that the Cougars' newfound chemistry continues to evolve and produce more results like the 77-63 win over the crosstown Stars.last Saturday.

The two constants for CUC this season have been Mitch Pelissier and Jonathan Wilson. Pelissier continues to reside among the top scorers in the NACC with a 21.2 average, and Wilson has had a strong initial season for the Cougars, averaging 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds. The Cougars have also seen the development of their youth, with freshman Justin Schwarz and sophomore Henry Woo Jr. working to become consistent scoring threats, particularly from the outside. 

Recently, a couple more players have joined the mix and improved the team's defensive play. Freshman Jalen Meeks and sophomore Kenta Jones have led the press in forcing more opponents' turnovers, and that was in evidence as the Cougars came back from 22 points down to force overtime against Marian, and also in turning the tide against Dominican after the Stars grabbed an early 10-point lead in the first 10 minutes. Meeks has also given CUC a third scorer, leading the way with 22 against Dominican and 25 against Wisconsin Lutheran.

The hopes are that the Cougars will continue to step up their play this weekend in the atmosphere of the Buuck Fieldhouse on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin. The Cougars and Falcons will square off in Friday night's 8:00 game and, because of the arrangement made in recent years, this game will count in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings. The Falcons are 10-9 on the season, 5-2 on their home floor and just had a four-game winning streak snapped by Aurora University on Tuesday. CUW presents a balanced scoring attack with three starters in double figures and the other two just a fraction below 10 points a game. Josh Hau (16.5), Jordan Johnson (13.7) and Jake Jurss (10.9) are all capable of hitting from three-point range, and Andrew Fratzke provides the muscle in the lane with 7.1 rebounds per game.

Concordia University Ann Arbor enters play with a 7-14 record, scoring 70.9 per game while allowing 76. to their opponents. The Cardinals started out the year 6-4 but have hit hard times since Dec. 6, dropping four in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. Ann Arbor packs a good one-two punch with 6' 6" forward Connor Phee averaging 17.9 points and 7.3 rebounds, and 6' 2" guard Jalen Thompson scoring 16.8 per game. The defense may also have to account for point guard Jared McDaniel who averages 5.5 assists in addition to his 11.3 scoring average,

Finally, we have Concordia University Nebraska who has won 27 CIT titles all-time, including the last two. They are currently 15-6 overall, having won their last three games. The Bulldogs also feature a balanced scoring attack with four scorers averaging double figures. They score 82.2 per game, and their shooting percentage is a telling stat. CUNE makes nearly half their shots overall (.489) and has a strong three-point shooting percentage of .379. Clay Reimers, a 6' 7" sophomore, shoots 64 percent from the field and leads the Bulldogs at 16.3 per game, but 6' 4" guard Tanner Shuck is a lethal three-point shooter with 63-157 for the year and a 14.0 scoring average. 

Links to all of the Cougars' games at CIT can be found on the "live coverage" link under the "Fan Zone" on the web page, www.cucougars.com.