RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- In front of its home crowd, the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball defeated Rockford University, 86-79, marking its first win against the NACC foe since 2014.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Tonight's win is the earliest in the season that the Cougars have won a game, since the 2014-15 season. On this date four years ago, Nov. 15, 2014, CUC beat Knox College 90-76.
- Senior Mitch Pelissier scored the game-high 20 points, while tallying nine rebounds and dishing eight assists. Of Pelissier's 20 points, 11 came from the charity stripe. Tonight's win was also the first time Pelissier has defeated the Regents in his Concordia tenure.
- Freshman Landen Gladney earned his second double-double in as many games, with 18 points and 14 boards. He also won tonight's tip-off, the first of his career in maroon and gold.
- Sophomore Justin Schwarz had another strong outing for CUC, scoring in double digits (19) for the second straight game. He shot 8-13 from the floor.
- Cade Mousel proved to be clutch off the bench for the Cougars, once again, shooting 3-7 from beyond the arc, combining for nine points.
Rockford University took off to a hot start this evening, developing a steady 11-4 lead over the first two minutes of the game. Trailing by seven,
Sawyer Concklin drained a three-pointer to pull the Cougars within four.
Down the stretch, the Regents took another cushioned lead and held CUC at a 21-15 advantage with 12 to go in the first half. The tides began to change however, as Pelissier drained a jumper, followed by two made free throws from
Hassan Basbous. As Rockford continued to battle the Cougars, Mousel made back-to-back three-pointers and finally tied things up at 25 apiece.
While the two teams traded the lead six times during the first half, Rockford would be the ones to lead heading into the final half of play, holding just a five-point advantage at 46-41.
Once again, the Regents came out strong in the opening minutes of the second half. By the 12:27 mark, Rockford had taken its largest lead of the night, looking at a 62-51 advantage. Despite the shortfalls, CUC bounced back as the Cougars went on a 7-0 scoring run to pull within just four of their opponent.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Schwarz took matters into his own hands and drained the three off a Pelissier assist to electrify the Cougars and pull ahead with the 69-67 lead.
From there, CUC would outscore the Regents 17-12 and walk off the court with its first victory since Jan. 20, 2018.
The Cougars return to the court next Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. against NACC rival, Concordia Wisconsin.
