JOLIET, Ill. - The University of St. Francis men's basketball team forced one overtime with a three-pointer at the end of regulation, but could not get another one to fall late in the extra session to set up a second extra period in falling 66-63 to Roosevelt University in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup this Wednesday (Jan. 8) night at the Sullivan Center.
 

On a night when both teams struggled to find their offense, Roosevelt (4-14, 4-6 CCAC) used a 9-2 run in the closing 2:42 of overtime to claim the decision after Eric Ting's (JR/Taoyuan, Taiwan) final three-point attempt bounced off the rim with two seconds to play. The Lakers also scored a 55-36 win in the rebounding game.
 

Neither team could gain an edge in the opening 20 minutes with the Saints hitting just 25 percent of their shots from the field (8-of-32) and Roosevelt making just six of its 26 attempts for a 23.1 percent reading. The biggest lead for either team in the opening half was USF's 18-13 advantage with 8:26 to play, but the Saints scored just one basket – a three-pointer – the rest of the half and neither team netted a point in the closing 3:34 allowing the hosts to cling to a 21-19 edge at the break.
 

In the second half, the Saints built their biggest lead of the night at 37-30 with 10:10 to play, but Roosevelt followed with an 11-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to go up 41-37. The Lakers eventually got their lead up to six points twice in the closing two minutes, the last – 54-48 – coming with 30 seconds to play.
 

USF (6-10, 4-6) was able to split that deficit in half on a Cole Micek (SR/Los Angeles, Calif.) three-pointer from the left corner with 1.8 seconds to play in regulation and, after a Roosevelt turnover on the inbound play, Malik Bailey (SR/Tutwiler, Miss.) forced overtime with his trey in the right corner.
 

Another trey by Carlos Tovias (JR/Corsicana, Texas) with 2:42 remaining in the overtime provided USF with a 61-57 lead, but the Saints would score only two free throws the rest of the night, while allowing Roosevelt to counter with nine points in that same timeframe to eke out the three-point win. In all, the game featured 13 ties and eight lead changes.
 

Roosevelt finished the contest shooting .357 after warming up in the second half and overtime (.467 combined, 14-of-30), while the Saints continued to struggle after halftime (.317, 13-of-41) to end the night at .288.
 

Roosevelt's Josh Redic was one of only three players for either team who took more than five attempts from the field and finished hitting at least half of their shots. He authored his game-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field (4-of-7 from three-point range) and 8-of-10 accuracy from the foul line. As a team, the Lakers hit 21 of their 25 free throws (.840). 
 

Other top performers for the Lakers were Bennett Fuzak (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Quin Riggins (11 points).
 

Tovias, the only Saint to shoot at least 50 percent (5-of-9), led USF in scoring with 14 points, including four treys. Lewis Holey (JR/Sydney, Australia) matched Fuzak with a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds), while Bailey totaled 10 points.
 

Wednesday night's contest was the seventh loss in single digits this season for the Saints and the fourth by five points or less.
 

Up Next

USF hosts Judson University this Saturday (Jan. 11) at 3 p.m. (CT) looking to avenge an earlier 67-65 CCAC setback to the Eagles on Dec. 7.