JOLIET, Ill. --- Saint Xavier University's Jaeden King tallied a game-high 29 points to offset four University of St. Francis men's basketball players scoring in double figures as the Cougars pulled away late to gain an 82-65 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory at the Sullivan Center on Saturday afternoon. The loss snapped the Saints' three-game overall winning streak and a six-game win streak in league contests.
King produced 18 of his 29 points after halftime, where SXU outscored USF 42-31. The senior guard missed only two shots after the break, going 4-for-5 from the field and 8-of-9 at the foul line. For the game, he was 8-for-12 with four three-pointers and nine free throws in 11 attempts.
Jack Halverson added 14 points with Cedric Johnson contributing 12 and seven rebounds for the Cougars (15-5, 9-3 CCAC).
USF (8-7, 7-4) countered with 18 points, ten rebounds, six assists and five steals from
Carter Fayhee, a season-high 15 points off the bench from
Lewis McGlasson, 12 from
Darius Wright and another ten from
Aitor Anabitarte.
Strong shooting marks across the board fueled the win for Saint Xavier. The Cougars shot 54.9 percent from the field (28-of-51), 50 percent from three-point range (8-of-16) and 85.7 percent at the charity stripe (18-of-21) with 17-of-19 accuracy at the foul line coming in the closing half.
The Saints fell behind 16-5 after the game's first six minutes and faced that same 11-point deficit (38-27) at the 3:42 mark of the opening half. USF got back into the contest with a 15-4 run that extended into the second half, forcing the second tie of the game at 42-all with 16:55 to play.
Saint Xavier, however, would never allow the Saints to regain the lead – their biggest advantage was 4-1 at the start – using a 6-0 run followed by an 8-0 burst after USF again got within 48-47. St. Francis' closest deficits over the final 11 minutes were five points (56-51) with 10:59 to play and seven points (67-60) at the 5:30 mark.
Notes: Fayhee's double-double was his third of the campaign. He also tied a season high with his 10 caroms and registered a season best with his five steals … Fayhee's six assists marked his eighth straight game with at least four dishoffs … Besides his season-high point total, McGlasson's four treys were also his top mark for the campaign. He went 4-for-7 from long range, while the rest of the team managed to go just 3-for-19 (.158) … After going four straight games with ten turnovers or less, USF had a season-high 19 on Saturday … Both Saint Xavier's 82 points and .549 shooting percentage from the field were the second-highest totals by a St. Francis opponent this season … The Saints open a busy three-game week on Monday when they host Trinity International University at 3 pm.
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