RIVER FOREST, ILL. – For the second consecutive season under Head Coach
Rashaan Surles, the Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team is headed to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament. By narrow margins, the Cougars secured the number five seed and locked in their third matchup of the season against the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons.
How They Got Here
The Cougars struggled early in conference play with three losses at the hands of nationally ranked Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC), St. Norbert College, and Concordia University Wisconsin. Despite this tough stretch to kick off NACC play, the Cougars would bounce back with victories over Edgewood College and Aurora University. Going back-and-forth in the win and loss column, the Cougars were down to a win-or-bust scenario heading into their final game of the regular season where they would host the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders, who had already clinched a spot in the NACC Tournament. The Cougars were guaranteed to clinch the number five seed with a win over the Raiders due to the tiebreakers among the remaining teams on the bubble. With a four-team tiebreaker on the line, CUC would be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss due to Benedictine beating CUC in the head-to-head matchup. With the tournament on the line, the Cougars would secure the senior day 71-63 victory and control their own destiny, locking in their fifth seed ranking.
The Road to the Championship
The winning team in this matchup will move on to the NACC Semifinals on Friday, February 28
th where they'll face the winner of the #1 Wisconsin Lutheran vs #8 Rockford game. If WLC beats Rockford, the Cougars would play in Milwaukee at Time of Grace Center. If Rockford beats WLC, the Cougars would play the in River Forest in Geiseman Gymnasium.
With a win in the semifinals, the Cougars would move on to the championship game on Sunday, March 2
nd. The championship game will be hosted by the higher seeded school, meaning it could be hosted by WLC, St. Norbert, MSOE, or CUC depending on the championship teams. (These host school scenarios are only applicable with a CUC win in the quarterfinals and semifinals).
Previous Matchups
In their first matchup of the season, the Cougars traveled to Mequon, Wis. where they would fall 114-95 against the Falcons. In the loss,
Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) would post a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds while going 16-for-16 from the free throw line.
AJ Willard (Germantown, Wis.) chipped in his career-high 22 points on the night, shooting 75% from the three point line. The physical game posted the second highest amount of free throws attempted this season while the Cougars shot 34-42 from the charity stripe.
In their second matchup of the season, the two NACC teams met at the 72
nd Annual Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT), where the Falcons bested the Cougars once again. In the four point loss, Collicott once again led the team with 17 points and 17 rebounds, helping to secure his position on the All-Tournament Team.
Tallis Lowery (Fairview Heights, Ill.) tallied five of the team's 14 assists, marking a career-high for the freshman guard. Despite five total lead changes in the game, the Cougars would fall just short in overcoming the Falcons.
Performance in the Last Five Games
Cougars
In the last five games of the regular season, the Cougars have dominated with a 4-1 record. The Cougars downed Rockford University in a buzzer beater fashion at the hands of Collicott to start their final stretch of NACC games. In the win over the Regents, Collicott put up 31 points with the fairytale finish to secure the win.
Fresh from the Rockford win, the Cougars downed Aurora 74-69, marking the first time the Cougars have swept a season series with the Spartans since the 2011-2012 season. In the five point victory,
Aaron Brown (Joliet, Ill.) picked up two career-highs with 18 points and nine rebounds. Collicott also picked up yet another double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
For their lone loss in the final five game stretch, the Cougars fell to St. Norbert, who went on to clinch the number two seed in the tournament, 69-66. In the heartbreaking loss, the Cougars were led by
Joel Watts (Homewood, Ill.) who picked up 19 points while shooting 50% from deep. Brown also performed well for the Cougars, picking up his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
For the final road contest of the regular season, the Cougars went to the Southside for a matchup with Illinois Institute of Technology, sweeping the series and extending out to a five-game win streak over the Scarlet Hawks. In the 82-76 win, the Cougars once again saw a career-high from Brown with 19 points while also adding in two blocks, a steal, and an assist.
Darrian Williams (Garland, Texas) continued to shine for the Cougars contributing 16 points and four assists while Collicott posted another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
In the final game of the season, and a must win to keep playing, the Cougars punched their ticket to the conference tournament with a 71-63 win over MSOE. In the win, Collicott registered his 12
th double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds while contributing four steals.
Sean Beckman (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) picked up 15 points while Brown added 14 and Watts added 12. Despite the Raiders' desperate attempts to overpower the Cougars, points from the charity stripe would push the Cougars to a double-digit lead before a last second three from the Raiders would cut that deficit, but not be enough to overcome CUC. With Collicott's 12 points in the win, he trails the millennium mark by 25 points.
Falcons
In the final stretch of the regular season, the Falcons would post a 3-2 record, with wins over Lakeland University, Benedictine University, and Rockford while they would see two tough losses to Aurora and WLC.
In the 100-90 victory over the Muskies of Lakeland, sophomore guard Casey Verhagen
(Sheboygan, Wis.) was the star of the show, delivering a career-high 44 points and 10 assists. This game would mark the second time this season the Falcons have hit the 100-point mark, with the first time being in the 114-95 win over the Cougars earlier in the season. Despite trailing for the majority of the first half, the Falcons would hit the jets and take a five point lead heading into the half and ultimately overcome the back-and-forth battle in the second half to secure the win.
Extending their home win streak to seven consecutive games, the Falcons topped the Regents with a 103-87 victory, giving them their third 100+ point game of the season and their first back-to-back 100+ point games since 2022. In the high-scoring win, the Falcons took an early lead and never let the Regents have a chance ahead. The scoring was spearheaded by a 35 point performance from Logan Landers
(Cedarburg, Wis.) for his career-best.
In their senior day loss against Aurora, the Falcons would see their home court win streak snapped as they fell 67-66. The Falcons were led once again by Verhagen who put up 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists. With the game remaining close from early on, the Falcons would take an 8-7 lead before the Spartans would edge ahead. The Falcons remained close before a perfect 4-for-4 from the field along with a pair of free throws from Jack Fritz
(Columbus, Wis.) would keep the Falcons within four heading into halftime. In the second half, the Spartans jumped out to as much as a nine point lead, but was quickly cut down to one with two minutes to play. A late foul call allowed Aurora to seal the game with the one-point victory.
Heading on the road to take on the nationally ranked Warriors of WLC, the Falcons would fall 90-59. Sophomore Matt Merlo
(Random Lake, Wis.) would take charge for CUW with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists, but would ultimately still fall short of the dominating Warrior offense.
Despite already having clinched a spot in the NACC tournament, the Falcons went into their final matchup with Benedictine looking for a win to secure an opening round home game. With the 97-71 victory, the Falcons secured the number four spot in the tournament and the sweep over the Eagles of BenU. Despite close margins across the majority of the stat lines, the Falcons would walk away with the win after shooting 53.4% from the field and 44.0% from deep.
Stat Leaders
Cougars
Falcons
- Points Per Game – Casey Verhagen – 20.3
- Rebounds Per Game – Logan Landers – 9.0
- Assists Per Game – Casey Verhagen – 5.2
- Steals Per Game – Casey Verhagen – 2.0
- Blocks Per Game – Matt Merlo – 1.4
- Field Goal Percentage – Jack Fritz – 73.8
- Three Point Percentage – Casey Verhagen – 42.9
This will be the first time these two teams have faced off in the NACC Tournament. With tipoff slated for 7:00pm in Mequon, Wis., coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage while in-game updates can be found on X @cuc_menhoops.
