ELGIN, Ill. - A go-ahead basket in the closing seconds lifted Judson to a 67-65 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) victory over the the University of St. Francis men's basketball team this Saturday (Dec. 7) inside JU's Lindner Center.

JU's DeMarcus Williams' layup with four seconds to play snapped a 65-all tie to give the host Eagles the lead and a potential game-winning three by forward Mitch Kwasigroch (SR/Manhattan, Ill.) as time expired didn't fall as Judson was able to pull out the climatic conference victory.


With the loss, the Saints even their overall record to 4-4 on the season and are now 2-3 in league play while Judson improves to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the CCAC.
 

Judson started out with the game's first two baskets and grabbed an early 12-5 lead before the Saints scored eight straight to go ahead 13-12. Five more USF points followed as the visitors lead 18-12 at the 13-minute mark. The Eagles stormed back over a three-minute span to draw within a point (18-17) only to have USF counter with five unanswered points to lead 23-17 with 8:11 to go before the half. Judson managed to erase its deficit and pull into a 25-all deadlock with the Saints at the 4:11 mark. USF managed to regain the lead albeit a slim one but the Eagles knotted the game at 28 apiece with just under a minute left on the scoreboard. A Mitch Kwasigroch jumper with 41 ticks remaining put USF back in front as the Saints led 30-28 at the break.  
 

The second half went back and forth with three ties in the first six minutes. A trey by Kwasigroch gave USF a 45-42 lead near the midway point which the Saints held until the 7:38 mark when a Judson three-pointer put the Eagles back in front 53-51. A little over a minute later, USF sliced a five-point JU lead down to two (58-56) with 6:19 to go. The Eagles maintained its advantage through the lead swung from two to five points over the next four minutes. A JU basket made it 65-60 and a minute elasped before guard Malik Bailey (SR/Tutwiler, Miss.) drained a three ball to cut the Saints' deficit to three points (65-63) with 1:10 left to be played. USF then missed twice on shots from beyond the three-point arc before making good on the third attempt as guard Cole Micek (SR/Los Angeles, Calif.) buried a three-pointer with 21 seconds left to tie the contest all up at 65.
 

USF finished the afternoon shooting 40 percent (24-60) from the field and connected on 8-of-31 (25.8%) triples. The Saints made nine-of-12 (75%) from the free throw line.
 

JU shot well from the floor at 53.2 percent (25-47) though the Eagles had a difficult time from the three-point line by hitting just two-of-10 (20%) long distance attempts. The Eagles finished the day shooting 15-of-22 (68.2%) from the charity stripe.
 

The Saints were led by guard Jorden Thornton (SR/Hoffman Estates, Ill.), whose 15 points enabled him to reach the 1,000-point mark for his USF career. He was joined in double-figure scoring by Kwasigroch and Micek. Kwasigroch tallied 13 points and had six rebounds in 17 minutes while Micek supplied 11 points.
 

Judson was paced by four players in double figures as Bryce Prochaska's 17 points led all everyone. DeMarcus Williams, who scored the game-winning basket, scored 16 points and grabbed a game-most tying eight rebounds.
 

The Eagles controlled the boards with a 34-27 advantage, although the Saints grabbed 11 offensive boards to just eight Judson boards on the offensive glass.
 

Both teams were turnover prone as Judson committed 23 turnovers compared to 17 USF miscues. The Saints scored 24 points off the turnovers while Judson had 16 total. In bench offfensive production, USF posted a decisive 23-5 points advantage.
 

Up Next

USF is back home next Thursday, Dec. 12, as the Saints go up against NCAA Division II Lewis Flyers at the Sullivan Center in Joliet, Ill. A 7 p.m. (CT) start is slated for the non-conference tilt.