JOLIET, Ill. --- Clutch free throw shooting and a balanced scoring attack carried the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to a 78-66 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Calumet College of St. Joseph on Monday afternoon at the Sullivan Center. The contest was a makeup of the Dec. 21 postponement.

Calumet St. Joseph (4-10, 3-8 CCAC) actually recorded two more field goals than the Saints, but the Saints converted on 20-of-22 free throws (90.9 pct.) for the game to just 5-of-8 for the Crimson Wave. Included was USF going a perfect 12-for-12 at the foul line in the second half.

EJ Charles accounted for nearly half of the free throws going 9-for-10 en route to a game high 18 points. Four other Saints were perfect at the line, including Joey Buggemi (3-for-3), who finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

Russell Tillery, Darius Wright, and Lewis Holey each added nine points with Tillery also providing five assists. Holey missed out on a double double by just one point for the second straight contest, finishing with a game high 12 rebounds.

Also in the mix was Reihana Maxwell-Topia, who sank a pair of three pointers and ended his day with eight points.

Calumet St. Joseph was led by Malik Miller's 16 points and 13 from Wyatt Hughes. 

Both teams came out with a hot hand hitting at a 60 percent clip from the field in the opening half with Calumet St. Joseph holding the biggest lead at 30-23 with just under eight minutes to play. St. Francis (10-7, 6-6) got right back in the contest with a 10 point swing over the next two plus minutes to take a 33-30 lead and followed that with a 9-3 push to close out the half with a 44-38 edge.

The Saints opened the second half in similar fashion. After Calumet St. Joseph scored the first basket after the intermission, USF tallied ten of the next 12 points to build a 54-42 lead at the 15:13 mark.

Calumet St. Joseph would pull within 64-58 with just under nine minutes to play before the Saints regained the momentum with an 8-0 run to gain their biggest advantage of the afternoon at 72-58 with 3:38 left. The Crimson Wave would never get within single digits the rest of the day.

Besides making all but two of their 22 free throw attempts, the Saints also took advantage of 19 Calumet St. Joseph turnovers turning them into 30 points compared with 14 points off 17 USF miscues for the Crimson Wave.

Up Next
The Saints will be seeking revenge against NAIA No.22 ranked Indiana University South Bend when the two teams meet on Wednesday at 6:30 pm Central time in South Bend. The Titans won the first meeting 81-61 on Dec. 8.

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