River Forest, Ill.- The Cougar men returned home this evening after a disappointing trip to Lakeland this past weekend.  In the first half, CUC seemed to be all over the floor and MSOE had no answer.  Concordia-Chicago was hot from the floor and the defensive pressure gave the Raiders fits to give the Cougars an eight point halftime lead.  The second half was a different story.  MSOE could not miss as they started the half with a 16-3 run and didn't look back from there.  The Raiders locked in a comeback win by the final score of 81-75.    

Concordia-Chicago and MSOE both came out of the gates sluggish trying to find what was working on either end.  Minutes later, the Cougars found their groove on the offensive end and were disruptors on the defensive end.  Neil O'Donnell was being a pest at the top of the press forcing two steals netting him two easy layups giving CUC a 15-7 lead.  The Raiders tried to come back into the game, but the Cougar big men Jonathan Wilson and Justin Mack were dominating the paint scoring six straight points, which gave CUC a 21-14 lead midway through the half.  

After a MSOE timeout, Henry Woo Jr. gave the Cougars their largest lead of the night at ten with a deep three.  Later in the half, the Raiders chipped away at the lead, but the Cougars answered right away with back to back threes from Woo Jr. and Mitch Pelissier.  Concordia-Chicago went into halftime leading 44-36.  CUC shot a scorching 55 percent, while the Raiders thought there was a lid on the hoop when they shot 36 percent from the field.

Much like the first half, both teams came out slow to start the second half.  Things picked up five minutes in when the third place Raiders decided to kick it up a notch where they found their shot and took a 50-49 lead to force a CUC timeout.  After a Woo Jr. three to tie the game at 52, MSOE went on another 6-0 run to give them their largest lead of the night at six.  Midway through the half, after both teams traded baskets, Pelissier came up large for the Cougars knocking down a huge three to cut the MSOE lead to three.  

The Raiders kept extending their lead, but Wilson was all over the court keeping CUC within striking distance.  Late in the game, the Cougars defense were being overly aggressive as they found themselves in foul trouble.  MSOE was getting to the line at will, but Wilson, Pelissier, and Woo Jr. willed the Cougars to stay down four with three minutes to go.  With just over a minute, the Raiders hit a jumper as the shot clock was expiring to get their lead out to eight.  MSOE hung on late to win by the final score of 81-75.

Concordia-Chicago were led by Pelissier who had a team high 19 points (7-16 FG), four rebounds, and two assists.  Wilson and Woo Jr. combined for 34 points (14-22 FG) and six rebounds.               

The Cougars (2-20, 1-16 NACC) will return to action this Saturday when they take on the conference leaders in Benedictine University.  Tip off is set for 2:00pm.