NOTRE DAME, Ind. --- Season-high efforts from both
EJ Charles and
Carlos Tovias enabled the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to overcome a depleted squad and snap a three game losing streak with a 66-56 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Holy Cross College on Saturday afternoon.
Eight players did not make the trip due to illness, but the Saints (7-4, 4-4 CCAC) still started fast, hitting each of their first four shots from the field to open up a quick 9-2 advantage and never relinquished the lead the rest of the afternoon.
Charles and Tovias played a big role in that by accounting for better than half of USF's scoring with a combined 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting (.684). Charles delivered a career-best 18 points on 6-of-10 accuracy as part of a double-double (11 rebounds). He also produced three blocked shots and two steals.
Tovias only missed two shots (7-of-9) and accounted for three of the team's four three pointers in netting a season-high 17 points. That helped the Saints shoot better than 50 percent from the field (.520, 26-of-50) for the sixth time this season.
Joey Buggemi and
Lewis Holey added eight points each with
Carter Fayhee and
Jake Karli contributing six markers apiece. The latter was making his first collegiate start.
Matt Attard also reached the scoring column with a three pointer for the Saints, who only played nine in the contest.
Ryan Cartaino's 15 points led Holy Cross, which shot just .368 from the field (21-of-57).
After building the seven-point lead at the start, the Saints maintained a single-point advantage until the 13:36 mark of the second half when they finally pushed the lead to double digits at 47-37. The closest Holy Cross (7-6, 2-4) would get the rest of the way would be six points, 51-45, with 10:36 to play.
Up Next
The Saints take on crosstown rival Lewis University on Thursday night in Romeoville with a 7 pm tip off.
Live coverage can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with all things USF on Twitter @USFSaints.
