Concordia led by just 35-31at the break but came back out of the locker room to score the first 10 points of the second half. In the middle of that run, Benedictine's 6'7" center Andrew Olson picked up a personal foul, followed quickly by two technical fouls and a disqualification. Things began to go downhill for the Eagles at that point and, midway through the second half, they would lose leading scorer Matt Harrison. The Eagles' guard picked up his fourth personal foul and earned a fifth as he swatted the ball away from the Cougars' player. David Mikrut converted all four free throws for a 58-44 lead, and the visitors would get no closer than 11 points over the final nine minutes.
Not to be lost among all the whistles was a season-best performance by Concordia's Justin Gray. The 6'5" forward scored 25 points, following on the heels of a 24-point game just two days ago. Gray was 8-10 from the field tonight (4-5 on threes) and has connected on 14-17 overall from the field in the wins over Eureka and Benedictine. Ryan Young added 14 points, and Bobby Smith recorded seven points and a team-high nine rebounds (just ahead of Gray's eight). Concordia dominated the boards tonight by a 47-31 margin.
Benedictine, who finished the season at 10-15, was led by Harrison's 12 points and Alan Fudge's 11.
Concordia improved to 11-15 with the win, giving them their most wins since they recorded 12 in the 1997-98 season. To this point, they have improved seven games from last year's 4-21 season under the guidance of second-year head coach Brian Sommerhauser.
Newspaper Box Score Benedictine University vs Concordia (IL) University 02/20/06 7:30p at River Forest, IL - Geiseman Gymnasium At River Forest, IL - Geiseman Gymnasium CONCORDIA (IL) UNIVERSITY 73, BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY 60 BENEDICTINE UNIVERSITY (10-15, 3-8 NIIC) HARRISON, Matt 5-17 0-0 12; FUDGE, Alan 3-14 4-4 11; FRANKLIN, Jimmy 2-5 2-4 7; SHIMKUS, Mike 3-9 1-1 7; DUNSMORE, Jordan 3-4 0-0 6; JONES, Matt 2-3 0-0 5; MEEGAN, Ryan 2-4 0-0 5; BURRAGE, Chris 1-1 0-1 2; BOROWIAK, Mike 1-1 0-1 2; GAGE, Jacob 1-2 0-0 2; McCONKEY, Justin 0-0 1-2 1; OLSON, Andrew 0-1 0-0 0; SWANSON, Tim 0-7 0-0 0; BAILEY, Jared 0-0 0-0 0; HAMILTON, Aaron 0-2 0-0 0; THOMAS, Durae 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-70 8-13 60. CONCORDIA (IL) UNIVERSITY (11-15, 6-5 NIIC) GRAY, Justin 8-10 5-9 25; YOUNG, Ryan 4-11 3-4 14; MIKRUT, David 0-4 8-10 8; SMITH, Bobby 1-4 5-6 7; BELL, Lafeyette 1-5 3-4 6; TRIMBLE, David 2-3 1-2 5; WLEKLINSKI, Kas 1-3 0-0 3; COOK, Shawn 1-1 0-0 3; WARD, Ryan 1-1 0-1 2; WOOD, Jim 0-0 0-0 0; MASTERSON, John 0-0 0-0 0; WALTON, Reggie 0-0 0-0 0; SPARLIN, Jake 0-1 0-0 0; STENNIS, Mark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 25-36 73. Benedictine University........ 31 29 - 60 Concordia (IL) University..... 35 38 - 73 3-point goals-Benedictine University 6-27 (HARRISON, Matt 2-5; JONES, Matt 1-2; FUDGE, Alan 1-5; FRANKLIN, Jimmy 1-2; MEEGAN, Ryan 1-2; GAGE, Jacob 0-1; SWANSON, Tim 0-5; HAMILTON, Aaron 0-2; SHIMKUS, Mike 0-3), Concordia (IL) University 10-22 (GRAY, Justin 4-5; YOUNG, Ryan 3-8; BELL, Lafeyette 1-2; COOK, Shawn 1-1; WLEKLINSKI, Kas 1-2; SPARLIN, Jake 0-1; MIKRUT, David 0-3). Fouled out--Benedictine University-JONES, Matt; OLSON, Andrew; HARRISON, Matt, Concordia (IL) University-None. Rebounds-Benedictine University 31 (OLSON, Andrew 5), Concordia (IL) University 47 (SMITH, Bobby 9). Assists-Benedictine University 9 (FUDGE, Alan 3), Concordia (IL) University 12 (BELL, Lafeyette 3; GRAY, Justin 3; SMITH, Bobby 3). Total fouls-Benedictine University 29, Concordia (IL) University 18. A-350