Comeback fall short for Concordia University

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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:08PM

The Concordia-Chicago men’s basketball team returned to Milwaukee Jan. 11 in search of its second consecutive win in Northern Athletics Conference play. This latest challenge came in the Raiders of the Milwaukee School of Engineering who entered play with a 4-1 record atop the NAC South Division. The Cougars fell behind early and, despite a couple of comeback attempts, saw their efforts come up short as the Raiders posted a 70-59 win.

Oak Park-River Forest graduate Khirey Floyd and Charles Gordon had the hot hands in the early going for Concordia. The two combined for 5-for-5 from the field for the Cougars’ first 12 points. The Cougars, however, struggled with some turnovers and fell behind 23-14 as the Raiders converted a pair of steals.

Freshman Cole Reindl provided a spark off the bench, beginning with a steal and layup. Reindl then assisted on Justin Hineman’s basket before following with his own jumper from the top of the key. The latter brought the Cougars within six points, but the hosts answered with a three by Victor Bande and opened up the lead to 33-24 at the half.

The Raiders shot 48 percent from the field on 12-for-25 shooting, while the Cougars were 10-for-29.

Concordia fell behind by 11 to start the second half, but a pair of baskets by Keegan Johnson started the Cougars on the comeback trail. Issa Avery had a follow-up slam negated by a goaltending call, but he came back moments later with a three-point play to narrow the lead to 35-31

Avery continued to push the issue as he hit another jumper and two free throws to keep Concordia within range. The momentum was derailed briefly by a technical foul, but the Cougars regrouped and got three baskets by Marlin Vilius. Avery’s jumper made the score 50-45 with 6:41 left, but MSOE finally broke open the game with 10 straight points down the stretch. Jaren Singh scored five of the 10, and Cynerick Osinaike contributed a three-point play during the run.

Reindl hit a couple of late threes to finish as Concordia’s leading scorer with 13 points. Avery ended up with 11 points, nine in the second half.

The Cougars shot 23-for-64 from the field, 5-for-15 from three-point range and 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. Concordia claimed a 34-30 advantage on the boards and committed 12 turnovers to MSOE’s 14.