River Forest, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars men's basketball hosted their senior night on the final home game of the season where they had a high-stakes Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) game against the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders. After 40 minutes of competitive play, the Cougars came out victorious with a 71-63 win, clinching their spot in the 2025 NACC tournament.
Inside the Box Score
- Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) was the lone Cougar with a double-double where he scored 12 points and 13 boards. He also contributed four steals.
- Leading the Cougars offensively was Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) with 15 points and Aaron Brown (Joliet, Ill.) closely behind with 14.
- The final Cougar in double-digits was Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) with 12 crucial points.
Here's What Happened
First Half
The Cougars struck first with a mid-range jumper by Collicott, but was answered quickly with a three-pointer by the Raiders. However, a good three-pointer from Watts, as well as back-to-back layups by Brown brought the Cougars into an early six-point lead where the score was 9-3.
The Cougars found themselves in foul trouble early in the game where they had as much as seven fouls only eight minutes into the game. These fouls allowed the opportunity for the Raiders to be sent to the free-throw line in an attempt to come back. Two free throws and a layup by the Raiders would bring them within four points, but the Cougar lead would charge on. With 10 minutes remaining in the half, the Raiders found their momentum and brought the game to a tie at 21 apiece, however, after a few exchanges of baskets, the Cougars would regain momentum in their favor and went on a 9-0 run, which was not answered until the Raiders hit a buzzer beater three-pointer to end the half.
Heading into halftime the score was 37-30 favoring the Cougars.
Second Half
The Raiders attempted to gain momentum early in the second half where they were able to bring the score within three points in less than two minutes of the second half, however, foul trouble for the Raiders would give the Cougars space to increase their lead to 12 points. Highlighted in this 12-point lead was a mid-range jumper from Brown, as well as a steal from Collicott, which was passed up to Watts in a fast break play as well as another steal, this time by Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) and Williams would take it on his own for a layup in another fast break play.
The Cougar dominance would continue on with jumpers and three-pointers made by Williams and Collicott and was enough to force the Raiders to take a time out. At this point in the game, there was less than 10 minutes to go and the Cougars led by 15 where the score was 57-42. In the remaining 10 minutes the Cougars kept their lead but allowed the Raiders to get within five points. Fortunately, through the efforts of Collicott and Watts from free throws, the two would bring the lead back up to 11 for the Cougars.
The last points of the game came from the Raiders with a made three-pointer, but it would not be enough and the Cougars took the win. With a final score of 71-63 the Cougars would head into tournament play after clinching a spot in the NACC tournament.
What's Next
The Cougars will take a few days to prepare as they head into NACC tournament play on Wednesday, February 26. For updates on NACC tournament play as far as opponents and game times as well as all things CUC men's basketball head to cucougars.com/coverage.
