WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University men's basketball team ran out of time to complete their comeback over the Concordia Chicago Cougars, falling 67-73 in Van Male Field house.
Kobe Simpson led the Pioneers with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Paradiso Dante was one rebound away from a double-double, and K. Simpson also handed out six assists.
The Pioneers (1-4) got 38 points from their bench in the game, with K. Simpson getting his first start of the season. Carroll went 39.7% from the field and 29.2% from three but also knocked down 10-12 free throws. Turnovers plagued Carroll, giving up the ball 20 times leading to 23 points off turnovers for the Cougars. The Pios recorded 15 offensive rebounds, six steals, and four blocks on the night.
Carroll found themselves down 11-2 quickly in the first half, but an
Aaron Wafford three-pointer silenced the CUC run. K. Simpson got the lead down to three twice, once on a three and again off a driving layup in the half-court offense. The Cougars pushed their way up to a 10-point lead with 7:40 remaining in the period and got as high as a 40-20 lead over Carroll at 3:31.
Justin Gruber and
Tyler Miller tried to cut into the lead, but Concordia went into halftime up 20 after Carroll surrendered 15 turnovers.
Dante began a run with free throws at the line for Carroll, sparking a 15-3 run that was fueled by two three-pointers from Miller and one from Gruber. The Cougars responded with an 8-0 in just a little over a minute and thirty seconds, to retake an 18-point lead with 10:16 remaining in the game. Gruber, Dante, and K. Simpson all provided points to get the deficit back down to 10 with 4:00 left. K. Simpson got the game down to a five-point difference twice under a minute thanks to free throws and three-point plays. Carroll ran out of time as they were down six with six seconds to go.
The Pioneers will head out west to Colorado Springs for their first-ever game against Colorado College in the Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic this Friday, November 25.
