RIVER FOREST, ILL – The Concordia University Chicago Cougars took the home court to battle the Raiders of the Milwaukee School of Engineering where the two fiery teams saw a physical and scrappy matchup ultimately resulted in a 60-54 loss for the Cougars.
INSIDE THE BOX
First Half
With the Cougars winning the tip, a no good jumper from
Nazuri Whigham (Naperville, Ill.) gave the Raiders the chance to strike first. A retaliation layup from MacGregor would even things up, but the Raiders would stay hot on defense and with three consecutive steals find back-to-back jumpers to put them up by as much as 12. Back-to-back jumpers from Gates and Mitchell would cut the Raider lead back down to two.
The Cougars found their groove early in the second quarter after the first three of the night came from Gates from the wing to cut their deficit down to five. Immediately after, Gates would find a jumper in the paint to bring them within three.
With the Raiders adding a free throw and a layup to their tally, back-to-back threes from Desjarlait would bring the score even for the first time of the night. A steal from Mitchell translated to a layup from
Amaya Martin (Issaquah, Wash.) to give the Cougars their first lead of the night at 27-25.
Second Half
Fresh into the second half, the Raiders kicked things into high gear and took an 11 point lead over the Cougars until another three from Gates would break the ice.
Needing to find some rhythm after heading into the final ten minutes trailing the Raiders by seven, a fastbreak layup from Gates would cut the lead down to five before the Raiders would run away once again. Jumping out to a game-high 12 point lead, the Raiders would keep their foot on the gas to attempt to put away the Cougars. A jumper from Perry would cut the lead down to six while a big time block at the other end of the floor from
Abby Kulig (Carol Stream, Ill.) would shift momentum back to the Cougars.
Unwilling to go down without a fight, a game changing three from Desjarlait would cut the lead down to six while follow-up three from Perry would make the game a one possession game with under a minute to play.
Needing to play clean defense and get the ball back in their offensive end, the Cougars were unable to do so as they gave up a game-ending and one to the Raiders. With the Raiders now out to a six point lead, a driving bucket from Perry would bring the Cougars within four with less than 30 seconds to play and despite fouling to get the ball back the Cougars would fall 60-54.
The Cougars will hit the road to continue their conference action as they head north to take on St. Norbert College on Saturday at 2:00pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
