River Forest, Ill. — Concordia Chicago men's basketball (1-9) dropped a high-scoring affair to conference foe Aurora (4-2) by a final score of 86-79. 

The Cougars did plenty of things well in the loss, including shooting 60 percent from the floor in the second half and over 64 percent from deep. They were unable to overcome their 14-point halftime deficit due to the Spartans shooting an impressive 17-23 from the floor in the final 20 minutes. 

Aurora's offense was efficient all around. On top of their stellar shooting performance, the team dished out 17 assists. 

Size was an advantage for CUC, who outscored Aurora 40-28 in the paint. They grabbed eight offensive rebounds to the Spartans four, which earned them a 17-9 edge in second chance points. The team also forced 18 turnovers that led to 28 points, 19 of which were off of fast breaks. 

Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) was once again a problem for the opposing defense, scoring a career-high 30 points. The junior was unstoppable from beyond the arc, shooting 6-9 in his 36 minutes of action. Freshman Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) also had an easy time getting shots to go down, shooting 6-7 on his way to 14 points. 

In his second game of the season, sophomore Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Junior Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.) also contributed on the glass with seven rebounds. 

The two teams will face off again tomorrow night at Geiseman, with tip-off set for 5 p.m. As always, a stream will be available on the CUC Athletic's Youtube channel.