River Forest, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars men's basketball team stayed at home to defend their home court for a round of conference play against the Benedictine University Eagles. After a hard-fought battle, the Cougars fell 75-69.
Inside the Box Score:
- Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) led the Cougar offense with 18 points, four assists, and one steal.
- Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) had a double-double on the night with 13 rebounds and 11 points.
- Aaron Brown (Joliet, Ill.) was strong under the basket bringing in 11 points as well.
Here's What Happened
First Half
The Cougars struck first with a bucket from Collicott, the Eagles were quickly fouled, brought to the line, and made both free throws to tie the game up at two points a piece. From then on, the intensity of the game only increased.
The Eagles took over momentum of the game where in the first four minutes of the game, they scored 11 points compared to the Cougars three. Forcing the Cougars into their first timeout of the half after an uncomfortable deficit for the Cougars, the score was 13-5 favoring the Eagles. Out of timeout, the Eagles were able to get ahead by as much as 15 points, where the score was 23-8 with just over 12 and half minutes to play in the first half. The Cougars began going head-to-head, exchanging basket for basket, until the Eagles' scoring stopped at 30. With the score at 30-16, the Cougars had work to do, and they did just that. Fouled and brought to the line, Darrian Williams went two for two. After a pile of substitutions, Watts hit a knockdown three which was followed up by a driving layup from Brown.
To keep the Cougar power plays in full throttle, Tallis Lowery (Fairview Heights, Ill.) was fouled on a driving layup attempt where he went two for two at the line. The Cougars found themselves within five where the score was 30-25. After a scoring rut from the Eagle, they scored on a layup, but the Cougars quickly answered back with a driving layup from Watts and a three-pointer from AJ Willard (Germantown, Wis.). With a three pointer from Watts, the Cougars pulled ahead for the first time of the night where the score was 33-32.
After an exchange of points and leads between the two teams, the Cougars were fouled with 20 seconds remaining in the half and brought to the line with a chance to go into half ahead. Watts at the line, remained hot-handed, and knocked down both free throws. Going into halftime, the score was 38-37, Cougars
Second Half
Both teams came into the half struggling to find any scoring opportunities. With lockdown defense from the Eagles, the Cougars had just a few seconds left on the shot clock to make something happen, but with the ball in the hands of the right person, Watts hit a long three to open the scoring in the first half.
Increasing the Cougar lead, the score was now 41-37. From there, the Cougars were able to get their lead to 10 points. Highlighted in this lead was driving layups from Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) and Collicott, jumper from Brown, and three from Willard.
With the score at 54-44, the Cougars took a 30-second timeout to get a new wave of substitutions in. With 13 minutes left to play, out of timeout, The Eagles were able to bring the score within six, where this point deficit remained until the seven minute mark. A made three from Collicott and a layup from Brown brought the Cougars ahead by eight, and the Cougars started to look comfortable.
The Eagles caught a second wind and took over. Fouled after a made shot, the Eagles were sent to the line where they were able to capitalize on a three-point play. The score was 69-66 Cougars, but with back-to-back three pointers by the Eagles, they pulled ahead, making the score 72-69, Eagles. One minute to go in the game, the Cougars were unable to score and fell. The final score was 75-69, Eagles.
What's Next
The Cougars will be on the road to take on Lakeland University for another round of conference play. Coverage for all things CUC men's basketball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
