MEQUON, WIS. – The Concordia University Chicago Cougars battled with the Concordia University Ann Arbor Cardinals on day two of the 71
st Annual Concordia Invitational Tournament, resulting in an 85-66 victory for the Cougars.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led the offense for the Cougars with 22 points while adding six rebounds, three assists, and 3 steals.
- Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) trailed closely behind with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal.
- Jacob Collicott (LaFayette, Ind.) led the defensive side of things for the Cougars with eight rebounds.
FIRST HALF
The Cougars jumped out to an early lead after starting the game on a 7-0 run with a three from
William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.), a dunk from Greenlee, and a layup from Matthews. Wilson took matters into his own hands after the Cardinals saw a couple of easy buckets by scoring the next ten points for the Cougars to jump them out to a 13-point lead. Keeping their foot on the gas the Cougars jumped out to as much as a 25-point lead with under eight minutes to play in the half, forcing the Cardinals to burn a couple timeouts to regroup.
As the Cardinals began to claw their way back, a once monstrous lead for the Cougars had dwindled down to single-digits as they headed into halftime retaining the eight-point lead.
SECOND HALF
Needing to kick things off early in the second half to extend their lead back to a comfortable difference, a fast layup from Bishop-Green would do just that.
Continuing to attack offensively, a midrange jumper from Greenlee followed by a three from Bishop-SGreen would bring the lead back to double-digits. Tacking onto the already strong lead over the Cardinals, buckets from Matthews and Greenlee would bring their advantage up to 15-points.
As the Cougars needed to keep up with fast, intense defense they would find themselves on a constant rotation of subs to keep fresh legs in the game. Pressure in the backcourt from Greenlee and Collicott would enable an intercepted pass from
Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) to turn a two-on-one opportunity for the Cougars into a crowd-favorite throwdown for Greenlee.
With momentum on the Cougars side, a three from freshman
Ian Ravagnie (Huntley, Ill.) would put them up by 17 with more than 14 minutes to play. Unwilling to give up easily, the Cardinals kept chipping away at the Cougars as the two teams traded baskets but a layup and a three from Beckman would keep the Cougars with the 14-point lead.
As the Cougars continued to attack offensively, the dagger would come following a jumper from
Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) and a layup from Matthews to put the Cougars up by 17 with under two minutes to play. The last points for the Cougars would come at the hands of
Kieran Heller (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) who would drain a three to put the Cougars up 85-65. Despite a last second bucket from the Cardinals, the Cougars would close the game with the 18-point win.
This day two CIT victory for the Cougars would mark the first game won by the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team since they last saw a CIT Championship in January of 2011. The 21-game CIT loss streak came to a screeching halt at the hands of the hungry Cougar squad.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Wilson was named to the 71
st Annual Concordia Invitational Tournament All-Tournament team. On the weekend, Wilson combined for 36-points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
The Cougars will return to conference play on Wednesday as they host the Edgewood Eagles for a 7:00 pm tip-off inside Geiseman Gymnasium. Cougar fans, dress in your best and brightest for Neon Night! Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
