JOLIET, Ill. - The nationally 19th ranked University of St. Francis men's basketball team forced overtime on a pair of clutch free throws with two seconds left in regulation, but was unable to gain the advantage in overtime as the Saints fell at home to St. Ambrose by an 85-78 score in Tuesday (Nov. 19) night Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) action at USF's Sullivan Center.
 

In overtime, St. Ambrose scored the first seven points to take an 80-73 lead at the 2:18 mark before the Saints answered by tallying five of the next six points to close to within three at 81-78 with 23 seconds remaining. A pair of made free throws by forward Mitch Kwasigroch (SR/Manhattan, Ill.) had cut the Saints' deficit to three points with 23 ticks left on the scoreboard only to have SAU's Ben Schols knock down two free throws exactly one second later to make it a five-point game. The Bees would go to the free throw line again with 14 seconds left and proceeded to make both accounting for the final margin as the Saints weren't able to score a point in the final 23 seconds of the contest.
 

USF managed to send the game into overtime with two seconds left in regulation as guard Jorden Thornton (SR/Hoffman Estates, Ill.) was fouled on a drive to the basket with with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. Thornton drained the first free throw and following a SAU timeout, calmly sank the second to tie the score as the Bees were unable to get a shot off at their end of the court before time expired.
 

The Saints, which held a 44-36 halftime lead, scored the second half's first basket to increase their lead to eight points (44-36) just 21 seconds into the frame before St. Ambrose stormed back. The Bees took their first lead of the second half a little under four minutes into the period on a three-ball by Dylan Kaczmarek. The Saints were able to regain the lead at 53-51 on a Thornton layup with 11:47 to be played in regulation, but the Bees came back to knot the score up at 60-all with 5:19 remaining. Trailing 61-60, USF erupted for seven straight points to claim a 67-61 advantage at the four-minute mark. However, the Saints' lead evaporated as SAU went on an 12-4 scoring run to go up 73-71 with 10 seconds left as Jake Meeske converted a three-point play. Thornton then took the final shot for USF and drew a two-shot foul to extend the game following his successful free throws. 
 

Thornton led the Saints with a game-high 18 points to go with four rebounds and three assists while guard Eric Ting (JR/Taoyuan, Taiwan) chipped in with 15 points and provided four assists. Joining the two in double-figure scoring was forward Lewis Holey (JR/Sydney, Australia), who notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
 

With the loss, USF drops to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the CCAC. The win improves St. Ambrose's season record to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the CCAC.
 

The Saints shot 41.2% for the game, but were only one-of-nine (11.1%) in overtime. Meanwhile, SAU made 47.5% of its shots for the contest and was two-of-six (33.3%) in the extra session, but compensated by going eight-for-10 at the free throw line. USF was at 40% on three-point field goal tries and converted 19-of-23 free throw chances for an 82.6% success rate while the Bees drilled 12-of-28 three balls for 42.9% and was almost perfect (10-of-11) at the charity stripe for a 90.9% effiency mark.
 

St. Ambrose was paced by John Kerr's 17 points and eight rebounds as he was tops among four individuals who tallied double-digit points. Michael Williams netted 14 points, Ben Schols added 13, and Kaczmarek scored 10 points.
 

The Bees outrebounded USF 43-32 for the game and had 10 offensive boards to seven for the Saints, which helped lead to a 10-8 margin in second chance production. The Saints did outcore SAU 22-16 in points off turnovers as USF forced 18 while committing 14 of its own. USF's bench managed to register a 27-22 points advantage.
 

Up Next

USF will travel to the San Antonio, Texas, to participate in the Incarnate Word Classic this weekend (Nov. 22-24). The Saints will play three exhibition games against a trio of NCAA Division I schools in Eastern Illinois, host Incarnate Word, and Bethune Cookman. USF's first appearance will be this Friday (Nov. 22) as the Saints go up against Eastern Illinois in a 2 p.m. (CT) contest.