AURORA, Ill. -- Looking to snatch their first road win of the season, and first win since Nov. 27, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars headed to in-state NACC foe Aurora University.
Despite an early lead, the Spartans would eventually out shoot the Cougars to pull away with the 97-84 victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Aurora's Rashad Johnson shot 5-5 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished the night 5-8. Teammate Tyler Carlson had the game-high 34 points.
- CUC's fifth all-time leading scorer Mitch Pelissier had the team-high 26 points. He brings his career total to 1,515. Tonight was also the third straight game in which he has scored 26 points or more.
- Rookie Landen Gladney tabbed his 10th double-double tonight with 11 boards and 19 points.
Gladney won the opening tip off as Pelissier quickly converted the two-point jumper to get the Cougars on the board.
As the two teams began to battle,
Jalen Meeks drained the pull up jumper to make it a 6-4 game. From there, the Cougars went on a 6-0 unanswered run which was capped off by a layup from Pelissier.
As the half progressed, the Cougars were looking at an 18-14 lead with 13:10 to go, while Pelissier, Meeks and Gladney each provided six points apiece for CUC. The Spartans took ahold of the lead from there as back-to-back three-pointers put Aurora ahead 21-18.
Concordia-Chicago continued to work and chip away while the Spartans would hang onto the lead throughout the remainder of the frame. Under three to go in the half, a swift steal from
Neil O'Donnell followed by a fast break layup pulled the Cougars within seven, their closest deficit since the 8:40 mark. Despite catching up to their opponent, it wouldn't be enough to stop Aurora's 10-16 shooting from beyond the arc including 5-5 from Spartan Rashad Johnson. CUC went into the break down 55-45.
Three minutes into the final half of play, Pelissier drove to the basket missing a layup, but Gladney provided the tip in to cut the game to a 12-point deficit.
Any sight of a Cougar comeback was short lived tonight, as the Spartans were relentless on offense and continued to provide pressure all over the floor. On the night, CUC committed 15 turnovers and shot 44.8 percent from the floor ultimately falling 97-84 to Aurora.
CUC will return to the court this Saturday at approximately 4:15 p.m. to take on River Forest Rival Dominican University inside Geiseman Gymnasium.
