Fond du Lac, Wis. -- The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team hit the road for the first time in conference play, heading north of the border to take on the Sabres of Marian University. It was a back-and-forth battle that came down to the game's final possession, but the Cougars were unable to prevail, falling 72-70.
Top Cougars
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Senior Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led all scorers with a season-high 22 points. He was 8-11 from the floor, 2-3 from deep, and 4-4 from the free throw line.
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Fellow senior Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.) also forced three steals in addition to grabbing five boards and scoring eight points.
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Senior Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.), who had a team-high seven boards and five assists to go along with ten points.
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Rounding out the big night for the seniors was Landen Gladney (Chicago, Ill.), who also scored in double-figures with three rebounds.
The Cougars fell behind by as much as 13 in the early going, trailing 17-4 more than six and a half minutes into action. They were able to battle back and find themselves right in the thick of things for the remainder of the game, however, thanks to aggressive play on both ends of the floor.
Hustle was on display from the start for the Cougars, who forced 16 turnovers on 10 steals and grabbed 18 offensive boards. One of the problems for CUC was the inability to turn those offensive rebounds into second chance points, as they only scored 13 on the night.
With 2:41 to play in the opening period, junior Tavarus Davis-Williams (Fox Lake, Ill.) evened things up at 33, the game's first tie since it was 0-0. Fellow junior Jordan Schmidt (Noblesville, Ind.) followed that up with a layup on the following possession and the Cougars had their first lead.
After battling all the way back, the Cougars rode a one-point lead into the halftime locker room. Matthews opened up the second-half scoring with a step-back three to give the Cougars a little breathing room. Just over five minutes later, Ruddell connected from downtown to give CUC its biggest lead of the night (seven).
Much like the Cougars in the first half, Marian didn't roll over easily. They immediately responded with a 7-0 run to even things at 51 a piece with under 11 and a half minutes to play. After the Sabres regained the lead, it was again Ruddell who delivered from deep to put his team back in front.
They held that lead for nearly six minutes before a jumper put the Sabres ahead by one with 1:40 remaining. A pair of free throws from Ruddell gave the Cougars a one-point lead with 1:25 left, but it would be the last points they scored all game.
A Marian three-pointer in the final 30 seconds made it a 72-70 ballgame, and CUC was unable to tie or win on the game's final possession as they fell to 1-2 in conference play this season.
The team struggled from beyond the arc throughout the game, shooting just 4-20 from three-point land including a 1-11 performance in the first 20 minutes. Ruddell and Matthews were responsible for each of the four. On the other hand, the Sabres were an effective 11-23 from three-point territory.
They'll return to action next Saturday, Dec. 18, when they again go on the road to take on Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. and a stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
