JOLIET, Ill. --- The University of St. Francis men's basketball team saved its best for last as the Fighting Saints led for only 4:29 of their season and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener to rally for a 71-66 victory over Calumet College of St. Joseph on Tuesday night at the Sullivan Center. USF's second-half lead of 3:25 came in the closing four minutes.
Carter Fayhee and Aitor Anabitarte fueled the win with their double-doubles as part of a five-man contingent that scored at least eight points each. Fayhee recorded nine of his 13 points and six of his ten rebounds after the break, while Anabitarte totaled eight of his ten points and six of his boards in the second half. Anabitarte also supplied three steals.
Darius Wright and Don Joachim did the heavy lifting in the opening half combining for 19 of the team's 31 points. Wright rang up 10 of his game-high 17 points in the first 20 minutes with Joachim supplying nine of his 13 points before the break.
EJ Charles provided another eight points.
Handling the ball better and ratcheting things up defensively were two key pieces to the Saints outscoring Calumet St. Joseph 40-29 in the second half. After turning the ball over 14 times in the opening twenty minutes, USF totaled just four miscues in the second half. Head coach Ryan Marks' club also outscored the Crimson Wave (0-4, 0-2 CCAC) 16-5 at the free throw line after halftime.
USF's only lead in the game's first 36 minutes was 2-0 at the start. Calumet, meanwhile, held 11-point leads three separate times in the first half, the last one coming at 30-19 with 7:06 to play. Back-to-back three-pointers from Joachim and Wright brought the deficit back to single digits at 30-25 before the guests went into the break with a 37-21 advantage.
In the second half, Lewis McGlasson's three-pointer off the bench during a 6-0 burst brought the deficit down to one point, 46-45, at 12:09 for St. Francis only to have Calumet St. Joseph get the lead back to seven points, 59-52, nearly five minutes later.
USF's next run finally got the Saints over the top. Fayhee and Charles provided the 1-2 punch during a string of eight unanswered points with five and three points, respectively. Charles' layup at 3:51 put the Saints up on top for the first time since early in the contest at 60-59.
A pair of ties at 60 and 66 would ensue before another Charles layup, two free throws from Anabitarte and one more from Wright in the final 61 seconds closed out the win.
Both teams struggled to find their offensive games for much of the night with Calumet shooting 43.5 percent from the field (27-of-62), while the Saints were 21-of-53 (39.6 pct.). At the free throw line, CCSJ converted at just a 40 percent clip (8-of-20), including only five makes in 15 attempts after halftime.
Calumet St. Joseph gained the upper hand in points off turnovers, 18-6, the majority of which came in the first 20 minutes. The Saints countered with a 23-11 advantage in bench points.
Oshawn Lee led the Crimson Wave in scoring with 16 markers. Floyd Davis boasted a double-double with his 15 points and 11 boards.
Notes: Joachim, Casmir Ochiaka and Justin Phillips all made their Saint debuts on Wednesday night … Wright supplied three of USF's five three-pointers … Nadav Gerner led the team in assists with four … The Saints hit the road for four straight exhibition matches starting Saturday afternoon in New Orleans against University of New Orleans at 4 pm.
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