The Dominican University men's basketball team erased a 13-point first half deficit, briefly building a seven-point second half lead before falling to the Concordia University Chicago Cougars, 103-92 in overtime on Saturday evening at the Cougars' Geiseman Gymnasium. The loss drops the Stars to 2-10 on the season and 2-5 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) with a rescheduled game on deck on Monday against the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons.
"As a fan, the game had everything you could hope for in a rivalry game," commented Mark White, the Stars' head men's basketball coach. "With that said, we need to play with a sense of urgency right from the opening tip—not just in fifteen or twenty minute stretches. We dug ourselves a big hole again. You absolutely cannot win conference road games consistently playing from behind. This team has a lot of heart and we showed that again in the second half. We will figure it out."
Mitch Pelissier scored 17 first half points on 7-for-14 shooting as the Cougars built up a 13-point, 43-30, lead with 2:13 to play in opening half. After the neighborhood rivals traded baskets, the Stars closed the half on a 4-0 run to narrow the gap down to nine, 45-36, at the half.
After the Cougars extended the lead back to 12 early in the second half, Dominican went on a 7-0 run to angle the lead back down to 50-45 with just over 17 minutes to play in the second half. The teams traded baskets over much of the next seven minutes until a
Dennis Handy three on the break pulled the Stars within one, 69-68, and sparked a 12-4 run capped by a pair of free throws from
Jackson Smith, giving Dominican its largest lead of the evening, 80-73, with 6:40 remaining in regulation.
Over the next two minutes, the Cougars chased down the Stars with an 8-1 run, evening the score at 81-81. The Cougars extended the run over the next two minutes, pulling ahead 86-83 before a
Connor Dartt layup and
Domenic Aiello put the Stars back in front 88-86 with 1:21 to go in the second half. After a Pelissier layup, Dominican missed a pair of shots in the final thirty seconds, extending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the Cougars scored the first nine points as the Stars went on a scoreless drought that spanned four minutes from the final minute of regulation and into the overtime, putting the game out of reach.
Five players scored in double figures for Dominican in the loss, led by Aiello who came off the bench to score 17 on 6-for-13 shooting.
Sean Ek added 16 points, converting on nine of ten attempts from the foul line, while Dartt added 15, Smith chipped in 14 and Handy finished with 13.
For the Cougars, Pelissier's 40 led four in double-figures with Landen Gladney finishing with a 25-point/15-rebound double-double.
