The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team (4-10) celebrated Senior Night with an unforgettable victory over the rival Dominican University Stars (1-10).
 
Dominican led for the first 38 minutes of the game, gaining an advantage as large as 12 points throughout the contest. The Cougars, however, stormed back late and took the lead for the first time on a clutch three-pointer by freshman guard Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.). Eventually, the Cougars saw out the remainder of the game for a 72-70 victory.
 
CUC trailed by six points at the break, but were able to overtake the Stars behind 54.8 percent shooting in the second-half. Wilson's night went beyond that critical shot as he led the team with 17 points. For the second-straight night, he and all of Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.), Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.), and Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.) all scored in double figures. Another impact performance came from freshman William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.), which included a spectacular alley-oop dunk on a lob from Matthews.
 
Tonight began with a celebration of the team's senior members: Joel Childers (Southgate, Mich.), Kenta Jones (Bensenville, Ill.), Justin Schwarz (Edwardsville, Ill.), Dewayne Burns Jr. (Maywood, Ill.), Henry Flanagan (Sydney, Australia), and Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.). After a video featuring family members and teammates honoring their accomplishments, head coach Steve Kollar started his five active seniors along with Meeks, who sat out this season due to injury, as an honorary sixth starter, after the team asked him to start this group.
 
It was a fitting farewell for Cougars basketball at Geiseman Gymnasium for the season, as a combination of Concordia students and player parents combined with an always energetic Cougars bench to create a phenomenal atmosphere that helped power the team to an emotional and memorable win.
 
The team begins postseason play on Wednesday evening against an opponent to be announced in the first round of the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference men's basketball tournament.