RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Following a win against Illinois Institute of Technology, Concordia University Chicago (4-11, 4-8 NACC) looked to continue their win streak as they took on Benedictine University (9-7, 6-5 NACC). To overcome the 20-point deficit from their last meeting against the Eagles, the Cougars needed to produce offensively and stop the ball on defense.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The Cougars out-rebounded the Eagles 40-23.
- Freshman Landen Gladney, once again, recorded a double-double with a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds.
- Sophomore Jalen Meeks led the floor with four steals on the night.
- The Cougars scored 36 of their 77 points from inside the paint.
With a pair of offensive put-backs from Gladney, the Cougars seemed to start off strong. However, a pair of defensive miscues brought the score to 16-10, in favor of Benedictine. With 14:00 on the clock in the first half, CUC had four fouls on the board.
After draining four shots from behind the arc and forcing six Cougars turnovers, the Eagles stretched their lead to 36-20.
With back-to-back possessions forcing Benedictine turnovers and drawing fouls, CUC logged a 4-0 run, but quickly lost their momentum with a blocked shot from the Eagles. The Cougars ended the first half out rebounding the Eagles, but still trailed 50-32.
After the half, the Cougars looked like they had gained a spark during the break, with a steal in the Eagles' first possession. This was followed up by an electric first basket of the half from Meeks, who sank a three-pointer a few possessions later.
Following another Cougars steal, an offensive put-back from Gladney and a shot clock buzzer-beater from Meeks brought the score to 63-49, which was the Eagles smallest lead since before the half.
Benedictine was able to snag a couple steals following two CUC defensive rebounds, which seemed to drain momentum from the offense. Drawing fouls on numerous trips to the basket, Gladney went 7-8 from the free throw line with 4 minutes left to go in the game, which brought the score to 81-69 in favor of the Eagles.
With less than a minute to go, the Cougars found themselves in foul trouble and trailing by 14 points after back-to-back three-pointers from
Mitch Pelissier.
Unable to overcome the deficit, the Cougars fell to the Eagles with a score of 92-77.
The next matchup for the Cougars is set for Saturday, January 19
th against Milwaukee School of Engineering (14-1, 9-1 NACC).
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