JOLIET, Ill. --- In a game that featured seven ties and ten lead changes as well as plenty of runs, Roosevelt University got the last run to escape the Sullivan Center with a 72-67 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference over the University of St. Francis men's basketball team Monday night.

The Saints (13-11, 9-10 CCAC) trailed by as many as 11 points early in the second half only to regain the advantage aided by their bench. The combination of Lewis McGlasson, Carlos Tovias, Nadav Gerner, and Carter Fayhee all contributed to a 12-0 run to put St. Francis up 63-58 with 5:24 to play.

USF also led 65-61 with 5:02 remaining, but the Saints managed just a pair of free throws from Reihana Maxwell-Topia the rest of the way as Roosevelt closed out the contest on a 9-2 run to gain the five-point victory.

The Saints had a 12-0 run in the opening 20 minutes of play, as well, keyed by eight points from Joey Buggemi to gain their biggest lead of the game at 15-6. Roosevelt, however, answered right back with 11 points in a row to regain the advantage at 17-15.

The Lakers (16-9, 11-7) added another 12-2 burst later to go up 37-28 before settling for a 40-33 lead at the break.

Both teams posted similar numbers in many of the statistical categories, including shooting 44 percent from the field,and 50 percent from three point range. The physical contest also featured 44 fouls with the Saints using that to their advantage by going 16-for-20 at the free throw line (80 pct.), while Roosevelt was just 13-for-24 (54.2 pct.).
The only other disparity came on turnovers, where the Saints lost possession 18 times to nine for Roosevelt. That cost USF 26 points, while getting back just 10 on Laker mistakes.

The Saints did hold a slight rebounding advantage of 36-31 with Lewis Holey accounting for a game high 11 boards. That also allowed him to become USF's all time leading rebounder with 844, surpassing the mark of 839 set by Dave Wilhelmi from 1985-88.

Buggemi led USF in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including four treys in five attempts. Darius Wright followed with 12, while Fayhee picked up 11 off the bench.

Matt Myers topped the Roosevelt scoring chart with 18 points, while Anthony Martinez and Lucas Jordan came off the bench to net 13 and 11 points, respectively. Both teams relied heavily on their benches on the night with the Saints getting 26 from their second unit and the Lakers getting 24 from Martinez and Jordan.

Up Next
The Saints are back at the Sullivan Center on Wednesday night at 7 pm to face Holy Cross in another important league matchup.

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