JOLIET, Ill. --- How close was the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to pulling off its first upset of the season?  A pair of three-pointers – one at the end of regulation, the other at the end of overtime – that came up short in a 63-61 loss to NAIA No. 14-ranked St. Thomas University (Fla.).  The setback was the second in a row for the Saints that featured an extra session and was decided by two points.

Tied at 53-all in regulation after St. Thomas converted a three-pointer to account for the ninth deadlock of the contest, the Fighting Saints got the ball back with 18 seconds remaining, but had their trey attempt from the left elbow fall short just before the buzzer.

In overtime, St. Thomas (5-1) opened up a quick six-point lead to start, only to find the scrappy Saints rally to put themselves in position for the upset victory.  Ben Faatz did the heavy lifting with five of his game-high 13 points coming in overtime.  His three-pointer with five seconds remaining made it a two-point game at 63-61. 

St. Thomas then left the door open for USF when it missed on a pair of free throw attempts with 3.9 seconds to play.  The Saints' trey attempt from the top of the key just in front of the half-court line at the buzzer, however, was just off the mark enabling the Bobcats to escape with the victory.

The contest was close throughout with neither team leading by more than eight points in the contest, including just three points over the last 12 minutes of regulation.  St. Thomas took a 10-2 lead at the start only to have the Saints put up 20 of the next 24 points to open a 22-14 advantage.  Lewis McGlasson was the hottest of USF's players during the seven-minute stretch with eight points, including two three-pointers, in a quick 76-second outburst.

St. Francis (0-2) also held eight-point leads twice early in the second half before St. Thomas used a 9-0 run over a two-minute time span to regain the lead at 37-36 with 12:20 remaining in regulation.  From there, the see-saw affair commenced with ten lead changes resulting by night's end.

The tough, defensive battle between the two teams resulted in sub-40 percent shooting marks from the field for both squads.  St. Thomas only got hot in the overtime period, where it converted five of its seven shots from the field.  That, however, was offset by the Bobcats missing all five of their free throws.  For the game, St. Thomas shot 39.1 percent from the field (25-of-64) and 35.7 percent at the foul line (5-of-14).

USF did not fare much better, ending the game at 36.2 percent from the field (21-of-58) and 59.1 percent at the free throw line (13-of-22).  The Saints opened the game shooting 42.9 percent over the first 20 minutes of the contest, but were just 6-of-22 (27.3 pct.) in the next 20-minute session.

Faatz, who also provided seven rebounds, was the only Saint player to score in double figures.  EJ Charles, Dakoda Joachim and McGlasson all contributed eight points.  Don Joachim tied for game-high rebounding honors with ten boards.

St. Thomas' Milton Matthews led all scorers and rebounders with 18 points and ten caroms.  He was one of three Bobcats to score in double figures.

Notes: Both of USF's setbacks this season have come by two points with the first one being a 70-68 double-overtime loss to St. Ambrose on Wednesday … Don Joachim has delivered ten-plus rebounds in each of his first two games to begin the 2023-24 campaign … Twenty of USF's 22 free throws in the contest came in the second half, not including overtime … Neither team made a free throw in the extra session, going a combined 0-for-7 … The Saints conclude play in their own Thanksgiving Classic with a 12:30 pm matchup against United International College on Sunday.       

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