River Forest, Ill. – The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team took the floor for the first time in 2022 on Wednesday night when they welcomed the Muskies of Lakeland University to Geiseman Gymnasium for a conference battle. It was an action-filled back-and-forth game, with the Cougars emerging victorious by a final score of 87-82.
Both teams had 8-0 scoring runs at some point during the first 20 minutes, and the Cougars led for just over half of the period. Senior Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led the charge in the first half with 14 points on 5-9 shooting. He'd finish the game with a team-high 22, tying a season-high.
With the game tied at 39, senior Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.) made three free throws in the final minute of the half and the Cougars went to the break with a 42-39 lead.
The second half featured much of the same intensity as the first, with four ties and five lead changes. Much like the first 20 minutes, both teams pieced together 10-0 runs that led to massive momentum swings.
It was Lakeland who came out of the break strong, jumping to their biggest lead of the night (eight) at the 14:26 mark. After fighting all the way back to within two, Meeks delivered back-to-back three pointers to give CUC the lead and then some.
The Cougars' bench came through in a big way, out-scoring the Muskies' bench 29-16. This was thanks in large part to freshman Liam Cameron (Ventura, Calif.) who had a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds. The seven-footer made his presence felt early on in the first half with an emphatic two-handed slam.
The freshman even scored 11-straight CUC points over a four and a half minute stretch in the second half, which helped the Cougars extend their lead to nine. Matthews followed the Cameron run with a three, and the lead grew to double-digits.
The Muskies didn't go quietly, pulling as close as three with just over 30 seconds remaining. Sophomore Kieran Heller (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) and senior Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.) both hit free throws down the stretch to help the Cougars lock up the victory.
Notes
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87 points are a season-high for the Cougars.
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It's the third time in his last four games that Matthews has eclipsed the 20-point mark. He was 5-5 from the charity stripe and also had six rebounds and five assists.
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In addition to his offensive outburst, Cameron blocked three shots.
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Meeks' back-to-back threes were part of a 16-point night.
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Senior Landen Gladney (Chicago, Ill.) also scored in double-figures with 10 points on the night.
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Ruddell dished out a team-high six assists and grabbed a team-high 11 boards.
The team will head back on the road this weekend to take on Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. and a stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.
