RIVER FOREST, Ill. (WLCSports.com) – Wisconsin Lutheran College led for nearly the entire afternoon, but Concordia Chicago scored eight of the final nine points of the game to hand the Warriors an 85-84 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference loss on Saturday at Geiseman Gymnasium.
WLC (3-9, 1-4 NACC) controlled the game from the opening-tip, scoring the first six points of the contest from sophomore
Pierce Arenz (Kiel, Wis.), senior
Ja'Quell Chisom (Milwaukee, Wis.), and sophomore
Sam Hans (Hartland, Wis.). The Cougars came within two points at 16-14 midway through the first half, but a 9-0 scoring run pushed Wisconsin Lutheran's lead to double-digits following three-pointers from freshman
Bryce Appel (Edgerton, Wis.) and Hans. The Warriors maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 7:27 of the opening half, including a first-half best 20 points after senior
Austin Wagner's (Jackson, Wis.) three-point play to make it 40-20 with 3:55 remaining. WLC went into halftime in front 48-29, led by freshman
Isaiah Mellock's (Greendale, Wis.) 12 points and a 21-4 margin in second-chance points.
Wisconsin Lutheran opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers from Appel to stretch the lead back to 22 points. Hans followed with a transition three off a turnover, and the Warriors pushed their advantage to a game-high 23 points, 58-35, just under two minutes into the half. WLC still led by 23 points with 13:55 to play following another three-pointer from senior
Ja'Quell Chisom (Milwaukee, Wis.). CUC answered with the biggest run of the game, 14-0, to cut its deficit to nine points at the 8:53 mark. Mellock knocked down a key triple and later hit two free throws, and Wisconsin Lutheran maintained a double-digit lead with 5:56 remaining. However, Concordia Chicago chipped away at its slim deficit and tied the contest at 83-83 by converting a pair of turnovers into buckets. After Hans gave the Warriors an 84-83 lead, the Cougars split a pair of trips to the charity stripe and took their first and only lead of the game with 0:22 seconds left, but WLC was unable to convert on its final possession.
Wisconsin Lutheran, which made a season-high 12 three-pointers, shot 44.8 percent (26-for-58) for the game. Hans led the Warriors with a career-high 19 points, Mellock added a season-high 19 points, and Appel chipped in a season-high 11 points. Chisom recorded a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 15 points, marking his fourth double-double of the season.
CUC (5-7, 4-1 NACC), which shot 41.8 percent (28-for-67), was led by Darrian Williams with 20 points, while Sebastian Hill scored 16, and Aaron Brown added 15. Honore Yangoua pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
WLC returns home for its next game on Saturday, January 10, hosting Concordia Wisconsin (5-8, 3-3 NACC) at 3:15 p.m. Live coverage links can be found at WLCSports.com.
