AURORA, Ill. -- Hoping to close the season out with a win, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars played a tight first half with Aurora University, before a strong second half boosted the Spartans past CUC with a 96-77 victory. 

Turning Point:

• Despite trailing by just four points heading into the second half, the Cougars opened up the frame on a four-minute, scoreless drought that allowed the Spartans to establish a 12-point, 61-49 lead. For the remainder of the contest, CUC would never pull back within less than 12 points of Aurora. 

Inside the Box Score:

• As a team, the Cougars went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, the first time all season that CUC has shot 100 percent from the charity stripe.
• Though playing with CUC for just one season, senior Xeo Golding scored seven points tonight, ending his career at exactly 1,000 points.
• Raushaun Amos and Brent Hatten led the Cougars, scoring 22 and 19 points, respectively. The duo also combined for 17 rebounds, with Amos grabbing eight and Hatten tallying nine boards. 
• Sophomore Izak Ruddell had a solid day, producing 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists off 50 percent shooting from the field.
• Overall, CUC shot just 25 percent from beyond the arc. 
• In the paint, Aurora out scored Concordia, 54-24.

Quick Recap:

• CUC kicked off the day with a 7-4 lead, less than two minutes in, thanks to good free throws and a three-pointer from Ruddell.
• The Cougars would continue with this lead, as back-to-back jumpers from Amos allowed CUC to hang onto an early 11-7 advantage.
• With Aurora taking back the lead at the 14:03 mark, Tavarus Williams kissed a layup off the glass that tied things back up at 13 apiece.
• After Hatten grabbed a defensive rebound, Amos found Golding streaking in transition, and dished a pass that allowed Golding to drain the fast break three-pointer, and give CUC a 18-16 lead while forcing a Spartans timeout. 
• Out of the timeout, Aurora tied the game back up, but a three-pointer from senior Neil O'Donnell once again pushed the Cougars out ahead of any Spartan comeback.
• With nine minutes to go in the half, the Spartans clawed back to a 29-23 lead over the Cougars, that carried through the next three minutes until Jaxon Gaddie hit a step-back jumper to tie the game at 31 with 6:26 on the clock.
• For the next two minutes, Aurora once again pulled back ahead to a 38-31 lead on a seven-point run, that would be stalled by back-to-back three pointers from Amos, to pull CUC back within one of the Spartans. 
• While the Cougars trailed by five in the final two minutes of the half, Hatten hit his first three of the day, to make it a 44-42 game. The Spartans would tack on two more points to close the frame with a 46-42 lead.
• In the second half, Ruddell began CUC's offense, as he hit a pull up three pointer to cut the deficit down to three points at 52-49. 
• However, from there, the Spartans went on a 12-0 run that put the Cougars in a hole they would struggle to crawl out of. 
• Shooting just 5-of-20 from beyond the arc and 36 percent from the field in the second half, the Spartans of Aurora were able to come away with the nearly 20-point victory. 

Tune In:

• For more information and updates on the CUC men's basketball program this off season, visit cucougars.com and head to @cuc_menhoops on Twitter. 

Ready to take the floor with these guys for the last time this season...

💛💪✌️ pic.twitter.com/kFyyb5Xzvm

— CUC Men's Basketball (@cuc_menhoops) February 22, 2020