JOLIET, Ill. --- Carter Fayhee, Aitor Anabitarte and Darius Wright all posted career-high scoring numbers, but the University of St. Francis men's basketball team still came up three points short in a 94-91 double-overtime setback to Indiana University Northwest in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at the Sullivan Center.

Fayhee totaled 24 points, while just missing out on a double-double with his nine rebounds and five assists.  Anabitarte did secure the double-double with his 22 points and 11 boards to go along with three blocks, while Wright netted 21 points.

Indiana Northwest (3-6, 3-1 CCAC) countered with a pair of 20-point scorers, topped by Lamarius Lillard's 26 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.  Isaac Stanback hit for another 20 points, while also registering eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. 

The combination of Lillard and Stanback, along with Jared Johnson (17 points, 8 rebounds), allowed the RedHawks to both outrebound and outscore the Saints in the paint by sizeable margins.  Indiana Northwest totaled 64 points to USF's 34 in the paint, while gaining a 52-38 advantage on the boards.

Lillard also keyed IUNW's 38-18 scoring advantage off the bench.

The contest was tight throughout with Indiana Northwest leading by no more than five points, while the Saints (2-3, 1-2) were able to get their lead as high as nine points in each half.  USF's first nine-point advantage (37-28) came with just 95 seconds remaining in the first half before Indiana Northwest got that down to four points (37-33) by the break.

The Saints pushed the lead back up to nine points three separate times in the first six minutes of the second half before the RedHawks wiped the final one out with a 9-0 run to tie the contest at 54-all with 11:40 to play.

USF, however, would never allow the guests to take the lead in the second half, regaining a 71-64 advantage with just under four minutes to play.  Indiana Northwest would rally yet again, this time waiting until just 23 seconds remained before forcing the third tie of the second half on a Johnson short jumper.

USF had the ball last at both the end of regulation and the first overtime, but missed on a short jumper with two seconds remaining in regulation and a three-pointer with one second left in overtime that would have provided St. Francis with the conference victory.  The Saints actually had two chances to win in the first overtime.  They missed on a layup with 39 seconds remaining before getting the ball back with 28 seconds to set up the three-point attempt.

Indiana Northwest scored the first four points in the second overtime and held that lead until Anabitarte put down a dunk off an alley oop to tie the contest for the 11th time at 90-all with 41 seconds remaining.  The RedHawks converted on each of their last two possessions – a jumper and two free throws – while the Saints managed just one free throw and came up short on a three-pointer that would have forced a third overtime.

Another key to Indiana Northwest securing the victory was hitting 12 of its final 14 free throws as part of an overall 14-of-18 mark (.778) on the day.  The Saints struggled at the line, connecting only 17 of 29 times (.586), including just 4-of-11 accuracy in the opening half.

Notes: Four of USF's five games have been decided by seven points or less with its two league setbacks coming by two and three points … Indiana Northwest has also played in multiple tight affairs, including five of its last six being decided by single digits.  The contest was the third overtime game (2 in double overtime, one in triple overtime) already this season for the RedHawks, who are now 2-1 in said games … Anabitarte's double-double was his third of the season in five games … USF's ten steals and six blocks were season-high marks … Casmir Ochiaka provided four of the ten steals … Ben Kreitz and Jake Karli both saw extended time on Saturday and delivered with Kreitz tying his top scoring mark (5 points) and authoring a career-best four rebounds, while Karli provided a pair of three-pointers … The Saints start a four-game road trip on Wednesday when they face Indiana University South Bend at 6:30 pm.             
  
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