Jan. 26, 2018 – The Concordia-Chicago Cougars and Concordia Wisconsin Falcons squared off this evening in the first round of the 67^th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament. The game carried a little additional edge as the results would count in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings. Unfortunately for CUC, the Falcons would feed off the energy of playing on their own floor, and they took control of the game early and did not relinquish it in defeating the Cougars by a score of 99-85.

The Falcons got off to a fast start with accurate three-point shoting. Josh Hau hit his first two from long range, and Josh Erickson added a trey from the right corner for a 12-2 lead. The Cougars began to recover as Jalen Meeks and Neil O'Donnell hit jumpers. Mitch Pelissier then hit a jumper on the run and added a free throw as he was fouled. Jonathan Wilson's layup then got the Cougars within 14-11, but the Falcons hit the Cougars with an 11-0 run, complete with seven straight points from Noah Gosse. CUC called timeout with 10:12 left in the half, trailing 25-11.

The Cougars charged back with a 7-0 run as Meeks converted a three-point play, and Wilson scored twice inside. However, Hau came back with two more threes as he would finish the half shooting 4-6 from the outside. A three by Henry Woo Jr. later got CUC back within 38-32, but CUW's Jordan Johnson responded with seven straight points. Despite a late three by Justin Schwarz, the home team would take a 47-35 lead into the break.

Concordia-Chicago's offense picked up the pace in the second half, but they were unable to close the gap substantially. Schwarz's three cut the CUW lead to 51-39, but Erickson and Hau hit threes as the Falcons built the lead back up to 18. Later in the half, a three-point play by Schwarz and a jumper by Pelissier made the score 68-56. Hau's three restored the Falcons' lead to 20 a few minutes later, and CUC could get no closer than the final margin of 14 points.

The Falcons remained hot from outside the arc, shooting 5-10 in the second half and finishing with a sizzling 12-21 (57 percent). Overall, they shot 59 percent on 33-56 and 81 percent from the free throw line (21-26). Hau led the way with 26 points, including 6-9 from downtown. Erickson added 22 points and Gosse 16.

The Cougars had a balanced scoring effort with four players in double digits, led by Wilson's 17 points and 14 rebounds. Schwarz scored 16, and Pelissier and Meeks each tallied 14.
Concordia-Chicago (2-16, 1-13 NACC) will play Concordia University Nebraska in the Saturday consolation game at 2:00. The3 Bulldogs were edged by Concordia University Ann Arbor in the final seconds of today's earlier game,