River Forest, Ill. — It was another outstanding week for the Concordia University Chicago men's basketball team as they picked up a pair of conference wins over Aurora University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. They've now won eight of their last nine games. 

Thursday's win at home over the Spartans was the first game for the team since their upset of second ranked Illinois Wesleyan University. They were red hot out of the gate and maintained their composure for a full 40 minutes despite Aurora's relentless attempt at a comeback. 

The Cougars scored 14 points before the Spartans got on the board, and though Aurora eventually tied things at 42 in the second half, CUC promptly responded with a 9-0 run to put all hopes of a comeback to rest. 

Saturday's road win over the Raiders was much of the same story. The Cougars built a double-digit lead less than five minutes in and had an answer every time MSOE threatened to get back in the game. 

The stars of the week were sophomore Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.) and senior Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.), who were the top-two point scorers in both contests. Wilson's 17 led the way against Aurora while Matthews posted the same figure at MSOE. Senior Jalen Meeks (Aurora, Colo.) provided a spark off the bench with two double-digit scoring performances. 

It's a big week of action coming up for the team, beginning with a trip to the Illinois Institute of Technology on Monday night. They'll follow that up with yet another road trip up to Lakeland University on Thursday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. tips. 

They'll end the week with perhaps their biggest conference battle of the season when they welcome St. Norbert College to Geiseman Gymnasium on Saturday. The Green Knights (9-5) enter the week in fourth place in the conference, two spots behind the surging Cougars (8-4). Tipoff is set for 4:15 p.m.

The women's track and field team had themselves quite a day at the Windy City Rumble on Saturday, highlighted by an outstanding performance from senior Kayla Armstrong (Chicago, Ill.). Armstrong won both the 200-meter and 400-meter races with times that currently rank second and third in the conference, respectively. She also placed second in the 4X400-meter relay alongside junior Ali Wingood (Chicago, Ill.), sophomore Diana Almazan (Berwyn, Ill.) and senior Angelina Nichols (Chicago, Ill.). 

Fellow senior Simone Wilson (Minneapolis, Minn.) also had a noteworthy performance, shattering the school record in the 800-meter with a time of 2:20.57, three seconds better than the previous best. 

Other top-five finishes on the day included senior Madeline Bobinski (Des Plaines, Ill.), who placed second in the shot put, junior Zahra Sammour (Berwyn. Ill.), who took third in the long jump, and junior Lora Haupt (Northville, Mich.), who was fourth in the pole vault. 

On the men's side, junior Jaylen Glass (Merrillville, Ind.) was the top finisher, placing fourth in the pole vault with a mark of 3.75 meters. Personal bests were posted by junior Kevin Louie (Niles, Ill.) in the 200-meter, and sophomores Martin Egbo (Williamsburg, Va.) and Marquis Overstreet (Hazel Crest, Ill.) in the weight throw. 

Most of both the men's and women's teams will be back in action this Saturday when they head to Ripon, Wis., to compete in the Dick Hendricks' Invite. However, Wilson, Armstrong, Nichols, Sammour, and Bobinski are set to compete at the University of Boston in the Valentine Invite beginning on Friday. It's expected to be one of the biggest meets of the season for these individuals. 

The CUC men's volleyball team picked up their first win of the season last Friday night with a 3-0 sweep of Olivet College. They nearly completed a perfect weekend on Saturday, but were unable to close out a 2-1 set advantage against Trine University. 

Junior Luke Vozenilek (Westmont, Ill.) continued his impressive start to the season with 41 kills between the two matches. Fellow junior Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) filled out the stat sheet all weekend long, most notably leading the team with 70 assists over the eight sets. 

They'll return home this Friday to take on Concordia University of Wisconsin in their conference opener at 7 p.m. Fans attending the match are encouraged to wear Hawaiian apparel.  

Finally, the women's basketball team went 0-3 on the week with losses to Benedictine University, Lakeland, and MSOE. 

There wasn't much offense in Monday's to Benedictine, but junior Jaylene Wade (Lansing, Ill.) managed to drop a team-high 10 points to go along with six rebounds. 

Freshman Sydney Lloyd (Grand Forks, N.D.) dropped a career-high 12 points in the loss at home to Lakeland on Thursday night. She was also second on the team with eight rebounds. 

After combining for just 90 points in the first two games, the team put up 59 on the road against the Raiders. Junior Mikalah Ellis (Chicago, Ill.) led the charge with 23 points. She also had a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Ava Gardner (Park Ridge, Ill.) was right behind her with 19 points on the afternoon. 

The team will have a shot at avenging an earlier loss when they welcome Rockford University on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. tip. They wrap up the week with a massive test as they host second place St. Norbert on Saturday afternoon. It will be a chance for the team to shake things up at the top of the conference standings. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.