River Forest, Ill. -- Conference season has arrived for the Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team as they welcomed Edgewood College to Geiseman Gymnasium on Tuesday night. After a dominating performance, the team moved to 1-0 in Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) play, defeating the Eagles by a final score of 82-58.

The Cougars came out aggressive on the defense end early on, forcing seven steals in the first half and turning them into transition points with ease. They owned the paint in the first 20 minutes, outscoring Edgewood 26-14 and blocking eight shots. 

Tied at six in the early minutes, reigning NACC South Defensive Player of the year, senior Izak Ruddell (Saint Joseph, Mich.) tipped an Eagle's pass out of the air and found junior Brent Hatten (Olney, Ill.) for a triple to put the Cougars ahead. This ignited a 22-4 CUC scoring run that gave the team a 28-10 advantage. They led by as much as 22 (40-18). 

A big reason the team was able to create so much separation was the contribution from their bench, which out-scored the Edgewood reserves by a whopping margin of 20-0 in the first. Senior Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.) and freshman Jacob Collicott (Lafayette, Ind.) both contributed six of those points, while sophomore Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) added five. 

The energetic defensive effort from the Cougars didn't allow the Eagles to get much of anything going offensively. They turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and shot just 9-30 from the floor. All of the forced turnovers led to 13 fast break points for the Cougars, who controlled the tempo of the half from start to finish. They entered the locker room with a 42-25 lead. 

Edgewood wasn't ready to quit, and came out of the locker room looking to chip into the Cougars' 17-point lead. They pulled as close as 12 less than six minutes into the half, but Wilson quickly responded with a three-pointer to extend the lead back to 15.

The Cougars continued to slow any serious momentum the Eagles tried to create, including a highlight reel alley-oop dunk from Meeks to fellow senior Landen Gladney (Chicago, Ill.).

It was a tremendous second half for Meeks, who had nine points, three rebounds and an assist. 

Much of what went well for CUC in the first half continued to do so in the second. Their bench was again a major factor, out-scoring Edgewood's 23-5. They blocked four more shots, bringing their total to 12 on the night, and continued to get after the ball on the defensive end. 

There was no shortage of contributors for the Cougars in the victory, with 12 different players scoring points.

In the end, the Cougars cruised to victory and moved to 1-0 in conference play for the first time since 2019-2020. 

Top Cougars

• Meeks led all scorers with 15 and assists with four. He was 6-9 from the floor and added a block, a steal, and three boards. 

• Junior Jordan Schmidt (Lafayette, Ind.) and sophomore Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) were both tremendous on the defensive end, forcing three steals a piece. 

• Hatten and Wilson finished in double-figures, both with 10 points. 

  • Hatten had the most rebounds on the team with eight. 

• Junior Tavarus Davis-Williams was a force underneath, leading the team with four blocks. He added seven points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. 

• CUC out-scored Edgewood 48-32 in the paint, 11-1 in second chance points, 19-5 on fast breaks, and 43-5 in bench points. 

The team is off until next Monday, Dec. 6, when they welcome Concordia University Wisconsin to Geiseman Gymnasium for another conference battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., and a stream will be available on cucougars.com/coverage.