RIVER FOREST, ILL. – The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team took the home floor to battle with the Rockford Regents, with playoff rankings on the line. In a down-to-the-wire battle, the Cougars fell just short at the final buzzer, falling 69-66.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Jacob Collicott (LaFayette, Ind.) dominated for the Cougars picking up his second double-double of the season with 17 points and ten rebounds. Collicott also added two assists, one block, and one steal.
- Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) followed closely behind with his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Matthews contributed three steals and one assist.
- The last Cougar to score in double-digits was Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) who picked up 12 points, 2 steals, 2 assists, and one rebound.
FIRST HALF
The Cougars struck first after winning the tip and picking up a quick bucket off a jumper from Matthews, but the Regents would be ready to fight back and score their first bucket a mere 20 seconds later. Four consecutive points from Collicott would edge the Cougars ahead, but their true lead would begin after Matthews hit the first three of the game followed by a steal and score to put them up by seven.
A five-point run from the Regents would make things a two point game, but the back-and-forth would continue keeping the Cougars slightly ahead. With momentum on the Regents' side, a three would even things up and force the Cougars to take a timeout. Finding the fire following the timeout, a hammer down from Collicott would put things back into the Cougars' hands. On the next possession, a steal from
Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) would translate into a fastbreak jumper from Wilson and keep the Cougars a comfortable four points ahead.
A quick 5-0 run from the Regents would put the Cougars behind for the first time of the game. Wilson would knock down a pair of free throws and a three from the wing to put the Cougars right back ahead.
Capitalizing on the momentum, buckets from
Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.), and
William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.) would put the Cougars up by seven before the Regents could respond. A steal from
Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) would create a fastbreak three-on-one situation where a down court pass from Williams into the hands of
Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) would lay out a perfect dunk for Bishop-Green, forcing the Regents to take a timeout.
Keeping their foot on the gas, the Cougars jumped out to as much as a 17-point lead with under five minutes to play in the first half. Despite the Regents trying to chip away at the Cougar lead, a last second three from Wilson would keep the Cougars up by 15 heading into halftime.
SECOND HALF
The Cougars once again struck first in the second half and a jumper in the paint from Bishop-Green would put them up once again by 17. A 6-0 run from the Regents would start to chip away at the Cougar lead, but jumpers from Collicott and Watts would keep the double-digit lead alive. Four points from the Regents, complete with forcing a Cougar turnover would force CUC to take a timeout to regroup. Fresh out of the timeout, a jumper from Collicott would paint a nice picture for the Cougars and create some chaos inside Geiseman.
With the Cougars unable to find a field goal for over seven minutes, the Regents would take control of the game and come within one of the Cougar lead. A jumper in the paint from Matthews would put them back up by three, but would quickly be cancelled out by a Regent bucket. With time quickly ticking down, one Cougar took matters into his own hands as Greenlee scored seven consecutive points for them to extend their lead out to six.
A 7-0 run from the Regents would steal the lead with under a minute to play, forcing the Cougars to take a timeout. Following the timeout, a missed jumper from Greenlee would hand the ball back over to the Regents leaving the Cougars no choice but to foul. With the Regents going up by three following a pair of free throws, the Cougars took their final timeout of the game with under ten seconds to play. Unable to hit the three at the buzzer, the Cougars would fall to the Regents 69-66.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Cougars currently sit sixth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) following the loss to the Regents. With the top eight teams in the NACC making it to the conference tournament, the Cougars are still battling to keep their placement. They'll be back in action on Wednesday as they take on the Division Street Rivals down the street at Dominican University with a 7:00pm tip-off. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
