RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- In their biggest victory of the season, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars upset the NACC's third-seed Illinois Tech in a defensive showdown, 61-57.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:Â
- Freshman Landen Gladney undoubtedly reached his double-double feat once again tonight, this time posting 18 points with 18 boards. His 18 rebounds marks a new career-high for the rookie.Â
- In 11 total minutes of work together, the unit of Sawyer Concklin, Mitch Pelissier, Neil O'Donnell, Jalen Meeks and Gladney proved to be the most efficient for the Cougars. The lineup combined for eight rebounds, six steals, five assists and outscored the Scarlet Hawks 19-12 while on the floor together.Â
- Forcing IIT to commit 19 turnovers, the Cougars converted 16 points off the Scarlet Hawks's mishandles.Â
Illinois Tech came out aggressive in the opening minutes of play. Through 12 minutes of work, the Scarlet Hawks established a commanding 25-15 lead over CUC as IIT's height seemed to have an impact on Concordia-Chicago's play. Down by 10, Concklin entered the floor and drained a three-pointer to pull CUC within seven of its opponent. Following the three, IIT drained a basket in addition to Gladney grabbing a layup of his own and the score stood 29-20 in favor of the Scarlet Hawks. Concklin answered right back for the Cougars and drained his second from beyond the arc for the night, and cut IIT's advantage to just six points.
After Concklin's electrifying basket, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run which was capped off by a clutch basket from O'Donnell to give Concordia their first lead of the night, 30-29.
Battling back-and-forth, the half ended with CUC leading by just one, 35-34.Â
As the second half got off to a slow start, the Cougars controlled the pace of the game and held onto their lead for the first 10 minutes of the frame. With nine to go in regulation, IIT tied things up and went on a run to take a five-point lead by the 4:57 mark.Â
While CUC caught up and regained a lead as the clock drew closer to expiring, IIT's Anthony Mosley Jr. made back-to-back free throws that evened it back at 57 apiece.
With the ball in CUC's hands, an offensive turnover allowed Illinois Tech to earn the ball back and an opportunity to take a winning lead with 1:12 left on the clock. Despite the chance, Gladney and Pelissier came up with a big steal as Pelissier passed the ball to Gladney who made the game-winning layup with 11 seconds left to go.Â
Ultimately, the Cougars came away with the big victory as they defeated IIT 61-57. CUC held the Scarlet Hawks to 27.59 percent shooting during the second half to earn the NACC win.
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