RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Despite Concordia Wisconsin leading the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team by as many as 23 points tonight, the Cougars fought tooth-and-nail against their NACC rivals, before falling 95-86 in the end.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Freshman Landen Gladney earned his third-straight double-double of the season, and won his second consecutive tip off. Gladney's final stat line read 13 points, 12 rebounds and a 90 percent night from the free-throw line.
- Senior Mitch Pelissier had a game-high 27 points as well as four assists and three steals, in 37 minutes of work.
- Driving to the hoop all night long, the Falcons netted 44 points from in the paint and earned 15 second-chance points, opposed to just five for CUC.
The Cougars would be the ones off to a quick start this evening, draining back-to-back layups from
Jalen Meeks and Pelissier. CUC's 4-0 lead in the opening minute of play would prove to be their lone lead of the night. As CUW responded right back to the Cougar surge, the Falcons went on to score eight unanswered points and take an 8-4 lead just four minutes in. Gladney broke up the Concordia Wisconsin run, with a tip-in layup off an offensive rebound.
With just under 10 to go in the first half, the Falcons held a 20-17 advantage over the Cougars. After draining two free throws, CUW pulled ahead to a 22-17 lead, but not before Pelissier drilled a three-pointer from the logo and rejuvenated CUC's bench heading into a tight finish of the first half.
By the 4:56 mark in half one, the Falcons had pulled ahead to a commanding 13-point lead. CUC would continue to chip away at CUW's offense over the remainder of the half and ultimately pulled within nine to trail just 46-37 heading into the break.
Opening up the latter half on a six-point run, the Cougar deficit increased to 15. However,
Justin Schwarz drove to the basket and banked the layup in.
Despite Schwarz's basket, CUW once again went on a scoring-tear, creating the largest distance of the game, leading 62-39 with just under 17 minutes to play.
At the 13:05 mark, Gladney rebounded a Falcon shot, and dished the ball off to Meeks. With
Neil O'Donnell wheeling across the court, Meeks passed it off to O'Donnell who drained the fast-break layup and made it a 66-49 game.
The Cougars remained resilient and continued to battle against the Falcon's relentless charge. CUC pulled within 10 of its NACC rivals, with just under four minutes to go, when Pelissier traveled coast-to-coast off a steal that turned into a fast break.
Concordia-Chicago would come as close as 94-86 in the final minute of play, when
Evan Snyder made a basket from beyond the arc, however, CUW tacked on one extra free throw and solidified its 95-86 victory in Geiseman Gymnasium.
The Cougars take a break for the holiday before returning home for game three of their five-game homestand. CUC will take to the court next on Tuesday, Nov. 27 against Marian at 5 p.m.
