MEQUON, Wis. -- Despite a mid-game comeback from the Concordia Chicago Cougars, Concordia Wisconsin's shooting ability proved too much to overcome for CUC, as they fell 88-78 to their NACC rival.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- CUC committed 23 turnovers tonight, while the Falcons banked 22 points off turnovers en route to the NACC conference victory.
- The Cougars shot 47.6 percent from the floor opposed to CUW's 55.2 percent shooting efforts.
- Landen Gladney and Mitch Pelissier scored the game-high 23 points apiece this evening. Gladney added eight rebounds to his arsenal, while Pelissier dished two assists.
After winning the opening tip off, Pelissier got right to work and kissed a layup off the glass to give CUC the early 2-0 lead. The Falcons would respond back with two points of their own before the two teams exchanged three turnovers and slowed down into a lull of no scoring for nearly two minutes.
CUW's Jake Jurss drained a basket from beyond the arc and heated up the Falcons' long ball shooting. With Jurss' three-pointer, CUW led 7-4 until
Hassan Basbous dished a pass off to Gladney who was able to make the driving layup.
From there, Concordia Wisconsin went on a 12-4 run to grab ahold of a nine point lead, ahead 19-10 with 14 minutes left to play in the half. For the next seven minutes, the Falcons held onto a 10-point lead, sometimes more, thanks to shooting 63.6 percent from the field and 5-10 from three point range.
Sawyer Concklin came into the picture, after draining a long three-pointer that finally cut CUC's deficit to below 10 points, down 36-27.
With a minute left to play in the half, the Cougars were down 49-37 until
Neil O'Donnell made a three-pointer followed by a Pelissier jumper. As the final minute began to expire, O'Donnell drove to the basket and drew the foul. He was able to drain one of two free throws from the charity stripe and allow the Cougars to head into halftime down by just nine, 49-40.
Once again both teams got off to a slow start to kick off the second half of play, with no scoring happening during the first two minutes into the frame.
Despite the slow start however, Pelissier electrified the Cougar bench after draining a step-back three-pointer to make it a six-point game.
Jalen Meeks chipped in with a layup of his own as the Cougars trailed just 49-45 at the 17:37 mark. Although CUC crept within the Falcons, CUW responded back with a dagger of a three-pointer to keep the Cougars at an arm's length.
Concordia-Chicago continued to work and stay close to the Falcons, getting as close as two-points away from CUW down the stretch.
With 11:42 to go, CUC was trailing 62-59 before Concordia Wisconsin went on an unanswered eight-point run. From there, the Cougars were unable to pull within less than five of their NACC rivals and ultimately fell 88-78.
