PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- In their second contest of the season, the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team traveled to UW-Platteville for a midweek non-conference match-up. After halting the Pioneers, who are receiving votes in the national polls, to a first-half season low in points, the Cougars' efforts were stunned in the second-half, as Platteville went on to win the contest 89-72.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Jalen Meeks led the Cougars with 16 points, two steals and two assists. The junior shot 6-of-12 from the floor.
- Sophomore Landen Gladney was one rebound shy of his 22nd career double-double. He ended the night with nine boards and 13 points.
- Raushaun Amos and Brent Hatten also reached double figures in scoring for CUC, as the two had 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Pioneers opened up the game, working quickly on a 4-0 run, that would eventually be stalled by a long three from Gladney to get the Cougars on the board.
Minutes later, Gladney blocked a Platteville layup and earned the defensive rebound. From there, the Chicago native found Meeks streaking across the court, as Meeks was able to draw the driving layup foul and sink the following free throws.
Leading 5-4 at the 17:03 mark, CUC's offense found its rhythm, while its strong defensive efforts forced the Pioneers to scramble. With 11:19 left on the clock, the Cougars led by as many as seven points thanks to a made basket from
Xeo Golding from beyond the arc. CUC would hold onto its 12-minute lead until the 5:54 mark, as Platteville made a second-chance basket to pull ahead to a 25-24 clip.
Concordia-Chicago would make four more baskets before the half expired, including back-to-back pull up jumpers from Meeks, to keep up with the Pioneers' revitalized offense. At the end of the first half, CUC trailed 38-32, while holding Platteville to a season-low 40.4 percent, first-half, shooting percentage.
Meeks got the Cougars going to start the second half too, as he sunk a layup, drew the foul and drained the and-one basket from the charity stripe to make it a 38-35 point game. Despite the Pioneers heating up on the floor too, CUC remained scrappy and kept the game at bay through the first five minutes of the half. Thanks to a jumper from
Charlie Reznikoff at the 15:08 mark, CUC pulled within two of Platteville at 46-44, the closest the gap would get through the remainder of the contest.
Eventually, the Pioneers' 57.1 percent second-half shooting took over the game, as Platteville went on drain five three-pointers and pull away with the 89-72 victory.
Concordia-Chicago drops to 0-2 on the year, but has two solid match ups under its belt before heading into conference play this weekend at Marian. CUC will travel to Fond du Lac, Wis. for a 2 p.m. tip off to begin 2019-20 NACCtion.
