DEERFIELD, Ill. --- Seeking to match its longest winning streak of the season, the University of St. Francis men's basketball team came up on the short end of an 88-76 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference decision to Trinity International University on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints could not offset six TIU players scoring in double figures in falling for the first time in three games. While St. Francis did have no fewer than ten players reach the scoring column to Trinity International's seven, head coach Ryan Marks' team only had three net at least ten markers. Darius Wright and Lewis McGlasson off the bench tied for team high scoring honors with 12 markers each. Russell Tillery was one point behind.

All six players that did hit for double figures for the hosts scored no less than 11 points, topped by Sterling Brown's 18. Diamond Presniakovas was next in line with 14 points for the Trojans, who gained a split of the season series after dropping the initial contest by a 94-86 count back on Nov. 13.

TIU (10-14, 6-10 CCAC) led for the majority of the first half, including by as many as ten points at 25-15 at just over the midpoint. Five different scorers – including five points from McGlasson – enabled the Saints to get back into the contest, using a 14-5 run to make it a one-point game (30-29) at the 5:19 mark.

Less than two minutes later, USF took its first lead of the game at 34-32 and held a 42-41 advantage at the break. A 14-of-17 effort from the foul line keyed the first half edge and countered TIU's 18-13 advantage on field goals, not to mention the Trojans' 60 percent shooting mark (18-of-30).

St. Francis eventually built the lead up to 54-47 with 13:38 remaining in the second half, but then went cold from long range over the next six minutes. The Saints would only go 1-for-8 from the field, including six misses in as many attempts from three point range, during a 13-2 run by TIU, which allowed the Trojans to regain the lead at 60-56. 

USF would also trail by that same four point margin (69-65) with 3:36 to play before Trinity International sealed the win with another 8-1 surge to go up 77-66 with 76 seconds remaining.

The Saints finished the second half shooting at just a .368 clip (14-of-38) with only three treys in 16 attempts (.188), leading to them being outscored 47-34 after the break. For the game, USF shot .409 (27-of-66) to TIU's .527 mark (29-of-55).

Up Next
The Saints return to the Sullivan Center on Wednesday to host Roosevelt University at 7 pm. It will be the second meeting between the two squads. USF won the initial contest 78-60 back on Nov. 24.

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