RIVER FOREST, ILL. – The Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team hit the home floor for one last time in the 2023-24 season as they played the regular season finale to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raider, pulling victory 81-68.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led the Cougars on the offensive end with 18 points while adding five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
- Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) followed behind with 12 points and four rebounds.
- Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) added ten points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
- Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) led on the defensive end with six rebounds, five blocks, and three steals while adding in eight points.
Prior to the start of the game, the Cougars honored their nine seniors as Greenlee, Matthews,
Ben Gordos (Manchester, England), William Bishop-Green (Chicago, Ill.), Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.),
Will Wainscott (Oswego, Ill.),
Kieran Heller (Whitefish Bay, Wis.),
Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.), and
Glen Pollard (Chicago, Ill.) were all honored for their time and dedication to the CUCMBB program.
FIRST HALF
The Cougars struck first with a three from Matthews within the first 15 seconds of the game. A three from the Raiders would even the score and set the tone for the first half. The Raiders would jump out to their first lead of the game after another jumper put them up by two, but a retaliation three from Hatten would hand things right back over to the Cougars.
A fast 6-0 run from the Raiders would put them back ahead, but the relentless Cougar offense would keep things going. In front of a rowdy Geiseman crowd, back-to-back threes from
Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) would electrify the crowd and put the Cougars up by five.
A 12-0 run from the Raiders would steal the lead from the Cougars before a pair of free throws from Wilson would break the Cougars's dry spell. Buckets from Collicott, Greenlee, and
Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) would even the score back up before a massive triple from Wilson would put the Cougars back on top. Closing buckets from Beckman and Greenlee would send the Cougars into the half with the ten point advantage.
SECOND HALF
The Cougars continued to extend their lead as an opening bucket from Matthews put the Cougars up by 12. A follow-up three from Matthews paired with back-to-back buckets from Greenlee, including a monstrous throwdown, would put the Cougars up by 18 and force a Raider timeout.
A pair of buckets from Beckman would give the Cougars their first 20 point lead of the night as the Cougars pressed on with no signs of slowing down.
With under ten minutes to play, the Cougars never saw their lead drop below 14 points as buckets from Greenlee, Wilson, Hatten, Matthews, and Bishop-Green would dwindle the time down to under two minutes with the 20 point advantage. With time winding down, a last second crafty layup from Wainscott would close the game with the Cougars ahead by 13.
Following this win, the Cougars make their return to the NACC Tournament with the semifinals matchup happening on Tuesday at St. Norbert College for a 7:00pm tipoff. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com.
