ELMHURST, ILL. — Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's basketball team (0-1) opened their 2023-24 season with a 20-minute drive west to Elmhurst University (1-0). The Cougars led for most of the contest, but a late push from the Blue Jays led Elmhurst to a 77-72 victory.
-Inside the Box Score
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Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led all Cougars in points with 17. He also had the most rebounds for CUC with six. Matthews got it done defensively as well with three steals.
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Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.), Emmanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.), and Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estate, Ill.) also scored double-digit points.
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Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) was the main assist man for CUC, dishing a team-high three out.
-How it Happened
First Half
Collicott started the scoring off with a layup 1:15 in the game. After Elmhurst briefly tied it up, Wilson scored four straight points to jump the CUC lead up to 6-2.
Elmhurst worked their way back to a lead, but Wilson stayed hot with a three-pointer to put the Cougars back in front, 9-7. Concordia's lead got as big as four, but Elmhurst battled back again and took a 19-17 lead with 12:20 to go in the first half. Then, Beckman spinning layup kickstarted a 9-1 Cougar run, putting them up 30-23.
The Blue Jays pulled within one, 30-29, but another major run from the CUC offense put them up nine, 40-31, with 3:18 to go in the half. That lead grew to 10 after Matthews responded to an Elmhurst layup with a three-ball.
Elmhurst won the final 2:22 of the half by just a few points, but CUC still went into the halftime break on top, 48-40.
Second Half
The Cougars stayed hot in the opening minutes of the second half, holding multiple 10-point leads. Greenlee hit a pull-up shot to increase the lead to 13, and then Beckman gave Concordia their largest lead of the night with a three. With 10:33 to go, CUC was on top 10:33.
With 6:10 to go, the Blue Jays were back within 10, but a Kieran Heller (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) three jacked the lead back up to 70-59.
This is where the Elmhurst comeback began. Six straight points got the Blue Jays within five, 70-65. Wilson hit a layup to increase the CUC's lead back to seven. Back-to-back-to-back three from Elmhurst proved to be enough to put them back in front, 74-72 with 0:54 to go in regulation. Three final free throws proved to be the dagger, as Elmhurst walked away with the 77-72 win.
-Up Next
CUC is on the road once again on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Monmouth College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and coverage can be found at
cucougars.com.
