JOLIET, Ill. - A gritty effort by the University of St. Francis men's basketball team wasn't enough this Sunday (Dec. 1) afternoon as the Saints fell on their home floor to sixth-ranked Dakota Wesleyan, 80-71, in final-round action of the 2019 USF Classic at the Sullivan Center.
 

Leading the way for USF, which drops to 4-3 overall on the season, with a game-high 25-point performance was guard Malik Bailey (SR/Tutwiler, Miss.). He was joined in double-figure scoring by guard Jorden Thornton (SR/Hoffman Estates, Ill.), who tossed in 12 points as did fellow guard Eric Ting (JR/Taoyuan, Taiwan). Guard Carlos Tovias (JR/Corsicana, Texas) dropped seven points off the bench for USF. Dakota Wesleyan remains undefeated as the Tigers go to 8-0 overall and had four players net double-digit points led by Ty Hoglund with 20 total. Nick Harden, who grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, scored 17 points, Tyson Smiley had 16, and Samuel McCloud contributed 11 points.
 

Wesleyan, which made 50 percent (28-56) of its shots for the game, came out by tallying 22 of the game's initial 31 points to take a 13-point advantage 7:30 into the contest.  The Saints bounced back with a scoring spurt to close within seven points at 28-21 with six minutes remaining in the opening half. A 16-8 DWU run covering a little less than five minutes put the Tigers' lead back into double digits at 15 points (44-29) with 1:37 left before halftime as the visitors would eventually go into the break leading 44-33.
 

The Tigers managed to increase their lead to 17 points (56-39) with 12:50 left in the game and the Saints managed to cut their deficit down to eight points at 63-55 with 9:18 on the scoreboard following a Thornton trey. The Tigers then proceeded to outscore USF 12-5 in a four-minute span to extend their margin to 15 (75-60) at the 5:17 mark. USF managed to slice its deficit to a single digit on three occasions in the final three-plus minutes with the closest being eight points (79-71) with only 48 seconds left in the game.
 

Forward Lewis Holey (JR/Sydney, Australia) pulled down a game-leading 11 rebounds in the game as DWU outrebounded the host team 34-29. Ting had five boards to go with four assists while Bailey snared four rebounds while distributing two assists and garnered a pair of steals.
 

USF wrapped up the day making 27-of-60 field goal attempts for 45 percent. The Saints knocked down nine-of-29 treys for 31 percent and were at 88.9 percent (8-9) from the charity stripe. DWU tallied 11-of-29 from beyond the three-point arc for 37.9 percent and canned 13-of-16 free throws for 81.3 percent.
 

In bench scoring, USF recorded a 21-13 points advantage. Both teams were even in both points off turnovers (eight) and second chance points (seven) while the Tigers posted a 32-30 scoring edge in points in the paint.
 

Following the tournament's conclusion, USF's Bailey and Ting were named to the six-member 2019 USF Classic All-Tournament Team.
 

Up Next

USF steps back on the floor Saturday, Dec. 7, as the Saints visit the Judson Eagles in Elgin, Ill. A 3 p.m. (CT) start time is scheduled for the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) game at JU's Lindner Center.