River Forest, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) men's basketball team kicked off their 2025-2026 season by giving a warm welcome to the Panthers of Greenville University. The Cougars showed major promise in the first half, closing up any gaps in the second half by as little as a point, but the Panthers went on to win the game 94-90.
Inside the Box:
- Vic Garrett (Chicago, Ill.) was the top scorer with 16 points and three rebounds.
- Andreas Louloudis (Thessaloniki, Greece) had 13 points, with eight rebounds and two steals.
- Tallis Lowery (Fairview Heights, Ill.) walked away with 12 points, three rebounds and four assists, along with teammate Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas), who had 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
How It Happened
First Half
The Panthers began the first minute of play with two back-to-back threes; free throws from Honore Yangoua (Williamstown, Ky.) put the Cougars on the board. Consecutive jumpers from Louloudis and Jacob Robinson (Saint Louis, Mo.) pushed the Cougars into the lead, along with a slam dunk made by Garrett, pushing the score to 22-14. The Panthers gained some momentum as multiple layups off the paint were made, bringing them within one point of the Cougars. Williams shortened that distance with a 3-pointer. The Panthers momentarily took the lead, but a dunk from Garrett easily took back that lead. The Cougars went into halftime with a leading score of 50-46.
Second Half
The half started off strong with Yangoua's push up the court for a layup and a three-point jumper from Williams. The teams kept exchanging points before the Panthers finally took a small lead. Garrett showed out with two dunks, putting the Cougars up to 63-60. The Cougars struggled to widen their score gap until a layup from Lowery kept them up by four. This didn't last as the Panthers slowly took the lead, being up 74-73 with 7:33 remaining. The gap became larger between the teams before Louloudis sank two three-pointers, shortening that gap, putting the Cougars within two points. Free throws from Matthew Guthrie (Carlyle, Ill.) tied the teams up, 84-84. Free throws from Ryker Johnson (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and a layup from Louloudis put the Cougars back in the lead. The Panthers took back the lead, Lowery making a layup in vain as the Panthers took the game 94-90.
What's Next
The Cougars will be in Decatur, Ill. on Wednesday, November 12th to face off against Millikin University at the Griswold Center at 7:00 pm. Coverage for all things CUC men's basketball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
