Plymouth, Wis. — The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team had their third road contest in the last five nights on Wednesday, heading north to take on the Lakeland University Muskies. After riding an early lead into the half, the Cougars were unable to finish things off in the final 20 minutes, dropping a close one 76-75. 

Inside the Box Score

• Sophomore Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) continued his impressive stretch of scoring with a team-high 14 points. He added five rebounds and a pair of assists. 

• Senior Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.) followed right behind with 13 points. He also had a team-high nine rebounds. 

• Junior Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.) was the final Cougar in double-figures with 12. 

• The Cougars out-scored the Muskies 42-22 in the paint. 

Neither team was able to create much separation in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Cougars did an excellent job at controlling the paint, scoring 24 of their 43 first-half points near the basket. The strong performance underneath was just what the team needed to overcome a 4-15 start from deep. 

Ruddell got the scoring going with a floater from the paint, the first of his team-high nine first-half points. Hatten followed up with some fancy footwork under the basket to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead. He'd go on to match Ruddell's nine points in the half. 

After a cold start from three for the Cougars, Ruddell was finally able to connect from deep to give his team a 17-12 advantage. The Muskies shot well from deep early to keep pace, but eventually slowed down as the half wore on.

The Cougars turned eight offensive boards into 10 second chance points, including Hatten pulling one down and finding senior Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) in the corner to give the team a 30-27 lead. Hatten followed that up the next possession with another offensive board and putback to grow the lead back to five. 

In addition to Hatten, senior Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.) was also a key figure off the bench for CUC in the first half, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. He also knocked down a three with 1:06 remaining to give the Cougars a 43-36 lead, their largest advantage of the half. They would take this lead to the break.

Lakeland opened the second half on fire from deep, hitting three triples in the first two and a half minutes to jump out in front. This surge out of the half set the stage for a very competitive stretch run. 

Trailing by three just under five minutes into the half, junior Tavarus Davis-Williams (Fox Lake, Ill.) converted a three-point play to even things at 51. 

Lakeland held a steady lead following that until Wilson rattled home a three to give the Cougars a 70-69 advantage with 4:53 remaining. This three was immediately answered by Lakeland at the other end, and that three was matched by Hatten on the next Cougar possession. 

The Cougars wouldn't score again until there were just 54 seconds remaining, when a layup from Wilson once again put them ahead by one. Lakeland answered this on the following possession, however, and their 76-75 lead would hold until the final buzzer. 

Next up for the Cougars will be a crucial battle with St. Norbert College at Geiseman Gymnasium on Saturday. The Cougars will honor their seniors prior to the game, which is set to tip at 4:15 p.m. 

You can keep up with all things CUC men's basketball on Twitter @cuc_menhoops.