Coming off their thrilling two-point victory over number one ranked Robert Morris last Saturday the concern for the Spring Arbor University men's basketball team was avoiding a letdown. Despite a less than stellar performance the Cougars were able to grind out a 79-61 victory over a very good Concordia University Cardinal team.
Senior Rob Boss paced the winners with 15 points while senior Richard Blair added 13 points. Junior DJ Baisden who was in foul trouble in the first half and saw limited minutes chipped in the scoring action with 12 points. Freshman Matt VanPelt recorded a game-high six assists while also netting seven points.
SAU got solid production from the bench as freshmen Chris Bellamy contributed nine points and senior Aaron List tossed in seven.
"We didn't play to the level we are capable of," commented head coach Ryan Cottingham. "Our defense was substandard and we were playing too much one-on-one on the offensive end. I'm glad we were able to get this game behind us and hopefully we are now past the distractions that came with defeating Robert Morris. We've still got a lot of work to do."
Spring Arbor hits the road next week as they travel to Adrian, Mi to play long-time rival Siena Heights University on Tuesday, Nov. 10th at 7:00pm.
The Cougars will be tested as they play four games in five days which includes an exhibition contest at Western Michigan on Nov. 11th. After a day off on Thursday Spring Arbor hosts the MCC/WHAC Challenge Nov. 13th and 14th. Indiana Wesleyan joins SAU from the MCC as they'll take on Cornerstone and Aquinas from the WHAC.
