11-11-2011 | ICJA Aces Cage Cougars, 59-45, Go to Final Four

11-11-2011 | ICJA Aces Cage Cougars, 59-45, Go to Final Four

By Avi Kirschtein

On Friday morning at 10:40, the 2nd seeded Frisch Cougars squared off against the 7th seed of the tournament, Chicago’s Ida Crown Aces, and as expected, it was not short of its exciting expectations. After a back and forth shootout that lasted the entire 1st quarter, the underdog Aces led 14-12 despite a beautiful 3 point shot that Frisch’s Jordan Hod sunk in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

The second quarter continued its back and forth scoreathon, and both teams proved they could score from anywhere on the court, and the message that 32 minutes of intense defense would have to be played in order to emerge victorious was conveyed on multiple levels to both teams. Despite the hard-fought efforts of both squads, neither team was able to maintain a solid lead, and heading into halftime, Ida Crown was determined to go the distance with the #2 seed of the tournament and led 27-26.

It really was not a shock that the trend of one quick score after another continued into the third quarter. Frisch’s Asher Fishman hit a layup to go up 30-27, and Ida Crown’s Ori Schwartz would nail 2 free throws to bring the game back within 1 point. The game continued in this exciting manner until the end of the 3rd quarter, with Ida Crown up 35-32 because of two free throws nailed by Daniel Macks.

In the culmination of this exciting game, Ida Crown began by rumbling to a 40-34 lead, which was by far the furthest apart these teams had been in score. The momentum continued, and Ida Crown went up by 9 points with just over 4 minutes to play. Aces forward Daniel Macks floated an NBA three pointer and then put in a layup followed by a bucket by Ori Schwartz. Frisch answered in kind but could not narrow the gap. All alone under the basket, Josh Ottensoser dropped in a bucket, Frisch committed a quick foul, and Daniel Macks capitalized on both free throws. Then, a bucket by Koyla Miller and 2 free throws by Macks expanded the lead to 17 with less than two minutes left to play. Frisch’s Judah Cohen popped in a 3 pointer, but time had run out on this one. The Ida Crown Aces emerged victorious, winning the game 59-45. Jordan Hod and Judah Cohen each had 9 points in defeat for the Cougars, while Daniel Macks led the Aces with 27 points and a spot in the final four.