JOLIET, Ill. --- Tough single-digit losses and the University of St. Francis men's basketball team have gone hand-in-hand this season, but on Wednesday (Jan. 29) night the Saints had one game go their way, using a late charge to edge out Robert Morris University Illinois 90-89 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Sullivan Center.
 

Fourteen of USF's 22 games have now been decided by single digits this year with the Saints having gone 3-11 in those contests. Wednesday night's victory snapped an 11-game losing streak in said games.
 

Eric Ting (JR/Taoyuan, Taiwan) sparked the comeback victory scoring eight of his 12 points in an 11-0 run that turned a 78-72 deficit into an 83-78 lead with just under two minutes to play. Robert Morris would get as close as one point on three separate occasions in the closing 32 seconds, including the final time with 1.8 seconds remaining, but the Saints were able to hold off the Eagles by converting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch. 
 

Robert Morris (14-8, 9-7 CCAC) did have one last chance to win the contest after Bobby Shanks hit a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds to play to make it a 90-89 game.  The Eagles stole the ball just beyond the three-point arc on the inbounds play, but an off-balance trey attempt by Cedric Jefferson came up empty, hitting the left side of the backboard.
 

In the opening half, both teams held six-point advantages before Robert Morris outscored the Saints 9-2 in the closing 3:31 to take a 44-37 lead into the break. The Eagles continued that run to open the second half when they produced the first eight points to gain their biggest lead of the night, 52-39, with 18:12 remaining in the contest.
 

The Saints (8-14, 6-10) whittled away at that deficit before finally taking their first lead of the second half when Josh Chery (JR/Newark, NJ) converted a three-point play to put the hosts up 65-64 with just under ten minutes remaining. It would be a see-saw affair from there with four ties and four lead changes the rest of the way. For the game, there were seven times and 11 lead changes.
 

Robert Morris was able to build its lead back up to 78-72 at the 5:04 mark before the Ting-led rally sparked the 11-point turnaround.
 

In a second half in which the Saints put up 53 points on .526 shooting from the field (20-of-38) and 8-of-9 accuracy at the foul line, Ting and Cole Micek (SR/Los Angeles, Calif.) led the way with 10 points each, with Micek's 10 representing all of his points on the night. The Saints were led by Lewis Holey (JR/Sydney, Australia), who produced his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Arnold Agard (JR/Brooklyn, NY) and Chery also authored season-high efforts with their 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 

Robert Morris' Marcus Cole led all scorers with 20 points with Jefferson totaling 15 points and six rebounds. Darius Branch chipped in another 14 markers.
 

A key statistic on the night for the Saints came on the boards, where they matched their 22 defensive rebounds with another 22 on the offensive side leading to a 44-34 rebounding advantage. More importantly, they outscored Robert Morris 25-14 on second-chance points.
 

Up Next

USF travels to Cardinal Stritch University on Saturday for a 3 pm tipoff in another CCAC contest.