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PressRelease
CONTACT:
Jim Egan, Sports Information Director,
(708) 209-3541
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Were the final 12 seconds of the second half of the Feb. 7 men’s game to be replayed 10 more times, the Cougar men’s basketball team might have a winning result in every instance. However, the actual ending to Saturday’s game at Geiseman Gymnasium was a loss for the Cougars and an answer to prayer for Rockford College. A desperation three-pointer by Rockford College’s Curtis Louisville rimmed in at the buzzer to force overtime, after which the Regents capitalized on their good fortune and the Cougars’ dejection to score the first seven points of the extra session and go on to a 67-58 win.
Concordia continued a recent pattern in their home games by holding the Regents scoreless for the first 6:38 of the game. By that time, the Cougars had built an 11-point lead and, although Rockford spent the remainder of the half chipping away at the lead, the Cougars maintained a slim 19-18 lead at the half. Rockford recovered to take a 27-21 lead early in the second half, but a three-point play by Matt Nietfeldt capped a 11-3 run that appeared to put the Cougars back in front for good. Concordia led 49-45 despite a stretch of five missed free throws when Rockford’s Geoff Wing hit a three with 14 seconds left to narrow the lead to one. Two seconds later, John Clancy was fouled and hit two free throws for a 51-48 advantage. With Cougar defenders draped over Wing, the Regents’ top three-point threat, the 6’5” forward Louisville held the ball outside the arc on the right wing. Finding no one to pass to, and with the clock running down, Louisville put up an off-balance, one-handed shot that hit the rim, bounced straight up and fell through as the buzzer sounded. Wing and Louisville scored on lay-ups to begin the overtime, and the Regents would build a 58-51 lead before Clancy hit two free throws with 1:40 left to end the drought. The Cougars had one final chance as a three by Hans Stelzer pulled them within 61-58 with 49 seconds left. The defense nearly forced a shot-clock violation on Rockford’s ensuing possession, but an errant three-point attempt was chased down by Rockford’s Eric Boone, and Boone called time before coming down several feet out-of-bounds. The controversial call was argued by the Cougar bench, and Wing hit two free throws off the technical foul to ice the game. Rockford would hit four more free throws in the final nine seconds to account for the final margin. Lonale Rowry led the Cougars off the bench with 19 points while Clancy added nine points, eight rebounds and five assists. Louisville led Rockford with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Earlier in the week, the Cougars lost on the road to Eureka College by a 74-54 score. Rowry led Concordia with 17 points, followed by Nietfeldt with 11 and Adam Swain with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars (3-18, 0-9) will play at Monmouth College on Tuesday, Feb. 10 in a non-conference game before resuming NIIC play with a Feb. 14 contest at Aurora University.