River Forest, Ill. – The Concordia University-Chicago men's basketball team (7-0, 4-0 NACC) continued their winning streak as they welcomed conference opponent Marian University Sabres (3-4, 3-1 NACC) to Geiseman Gymnasium. The Cougars won their seventh game in-a-row as they defeated the Sabres 95-87 to remain first in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) standings.
Inside the Box:
- Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) led all scorers with 26 points. Wilson shot almost 70% from the field and 50% from three-point range.
- Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) added 21 points to the Cougar's offensive attack. Matthews also added five rebounds and one assist.
- William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.) led the team in rebounds with six. Bishop-Green added seven points and two assists.
These two programs met in the NACC semifinals last season as the Sabres outlasted the Cougars 52-49 to reach the conference championship game. Just like the semifinal game, this season's initial matchup proved to be gritty as well.
The Cougars got off to a quick start as
Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) showed off his athleticism as he made a nice layup in the first 17 seconds of the contest. The Sabres quickly responded with a shot in the paint to even the score at two apiece.
Elijah White (Sheboygan, Wis.) provided a spark off the bench as he sank a three point attempt with 15:12 remaining in the first half.
Wilson concluded the first half with a layup to pull the Cougars within one point. Marian headed into halftime leading CUC 47-46.
The Cougars first made shot of the second half came from the hands of
Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.) as he knocked down a three to tie the ball game 49-49. From that point forwards, both teams went blow-for-blow. However, the Cougars received all momentum after
Liam Cameron (Ventura, Calif.) threw down a monstrous alley-oop with 13:04 left in regulation off of the Wilson assist.
Matthews ended the Cougar's scoring attack by knocking down two free throws from the charity stripe with 21 seconds remaining. The Cougars downed the Sabres 95-87 to secure their seventh straight victory.
The Cougars will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Lisle, Illinois to take on conference rival Benedictine University at 2:00 p.m. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage while all things CUC men's hoops can be found on Twitter or Instagram
@cuc_menhoops.
