FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- Sophomore
Hassan Basbous played arguably the best game of his tenure tonight, leading the Cougars with a career-high 34 points despite Concordia-Chicago falling 91-83 to Marian University.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- CUC's starting five were the lone scorers for Concordia's lineup tonight.
- The Cougars were out shot by Marian 55.4 to 47.1 percent from the field.
- With Basbous' career-high, he also grabbed 13 boards making it his fourth consecutive double-double. The Illinois native reached 17 points with 15 minutes left in tonight's game. From there, he scored 17 more baskets to reach his final stat line of 34 points.
Landen Gladney and
Mitch Pelissier got the Cougars going with back-to-back three pointers to take the quick 6-0 lead this evening.
After the hot start, CUC settled in and the Sabres caught up, keeping the game even keeled with 14 minutes to go in the half. Down 12-11,
Neil O'Donnell forced in the driving layup and gave the Cougars another tight lead at 13-12.
With the two teams exchanging control through the first 10 minutes, the Cougars were off to 8-of-17 shooting on the night and held a close 21-19 advantage to force a Marian timeout. Basbous came out of the timeout making a free throw and gave CUC the then three-point lead. However, the Sabres responded right back and went on a nine-point scoring tear to take a 27-22 command over the game.
Sophomore
Jalen Meeks was finally able to stop the Sabre run with a finger-rolled layup bringing CUC within three of its opponent.
However, through the final six minutes of the frame, Marian's Tyrese Pinson drained two shots from deep as the Sabres went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc to grab hold of a commanding 48-34 lead into the halftime break.
Concordia-Chicago came out of halftime ready to work, as CUC scored nine unanswered points to open up the frame and pull to a 48-41 deficit. Sabre Tristan Van Ess put an end to the streak with a layup, allowing his team to remain five points ahead of the Cougars.
With 10 minutes left to play, CUC turned up the heat and made free throws down the stretch when it mattered most. With a made free throw from Gladney, followed by six straight baskets from Basbous, the Cougars were looking at just a one point deficit, down 65-64. As the Sabres looked to stay ahead, Pinson drained a bucket from beyond the arc but Pelissier responded right back with a layup of his own.
From there, Marian's Tavaris McCullough hooked in the layup immediately followed by a three-pointer from Trentin Fouse and regained a seven-point lead that CUC would never come back from. Ultimately, the Cougars would fall 91-83 to Marian.
CUC returns to action tomorrow night, with a quick turnaround as the Cougars take on Edgewood College in Madison, Wis. at 7 p.m.
