CHICAGO --- A career best 19 rebounds from Lewis Holey and five Saints scoring in double figures enabled the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to eke out an 88-86 overtime victory against Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Trinity Christian College on Saturday afternoon.

Holey, USF's second all time leading rebounder, was one of the five players to score at least 11 points, netting 15 for his fourth double double of the season. Darius Wright matched Holey's 15 points, while Joey Buggemi led the way with 16 markers, all of which came after halftime.

Others reaching double figures included Carter Fayhee (12 points) off the bench and Russell Tillery (11). Ten Saints in all contributed to the scoring column.
Trinity Christian (10-15, 6-12 CCAC) countered with four players hitting for at least 13 points, topped by James Pennington's 27. Vince Overway added 16.

USF's free throw shooting was a key factor yet again as the Saints, who were outscored 75-66 from the field, made good on 22 of their 26 free throw attempts for an .846 reading. All but one of the attempts came in the second half and overtime, the latter of which saw St. Francis make nine of its ten tries.

USF's bench also delivered, outscoring that of Trinity Christian's 29-12. Holey fueled a 45-34 rebounding advantage.

The Saints (13-10, 9-9) held the biggest advantage in the opening half, leading by a 34-26 count with just over two minutes remaining. Trinity Christian, however, claimed the final seven points to cut the deficit to one point, 34-33, at the break.

USF, which put together its own 9-0 run in the first half, added a second burst in the first seven minutes of the second half. Buggemi was the only player on the court to score over a 92-second stretch, turning a 43-39 game into the Saints' biggest lead of the afternoon at 53-39 with 13:38 to play with his ten straight points.

USF, however, could manage just two field goals and only seven points in the closing 6:49. That enabled Trinity Christian to rally with nine unanswered points before forcing four separate ties – among eight in the contest – in the closing three minutes to extend the contest.

Four of the game's eight lead changes came in overtime with the Saints grabbing the last one on a Buggemi fade away jumper with 36 seconds to play. Head coach Ryan Marks' club then hit 5-of-6 free throws the rest of the way to seal up the victory.

Up Next
The Saints get only one day off before making up the postponement of last week's Roosevelt contest. The Monday contest tips off at 7 pm in the Sullivan Center.

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