JOLIET, Ill. --- The tough luck continued for the University of St. Francis men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon as the Fighting Saints dropped their third game by two points or less and fifth contest by single digits in a 66-65 setback to Campbellsville University (Ky.) in the first game of the USF New Year's Classic at the Pat Sullivan Center.

Chandler Clements' only basket of the game – a three-pointer from the right elbow – with six-tenths of one second remaining provided the Tigers with their only lead of the second half and sent them to their tenth win in 12 games.  St. Francis slipped to 2-6.

It ruined a day in which the Saints rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit and flipped it into a nine-point second-half advantage. 

Rahmel Davis sparked the comeback with eight of his 12 first-half points coming during a 17-5 run that turned a 23-12 deficit into a 29-28 lead.  EJ Charles added another five points, including a three-pointer, during the surge, which enabled USF to go into the break leading 31-30.

The lead only swelled from there, getting as high as nine points on five separate occasions, the last time coming at the 3:41 mark (61-52).  The Saints also led 63-56 with 67 seconds to play, but were outscored 10-2 the rest of the way with the guests going 4-for-5 from the field with a pair of three-pointers, their only two of the second half in ten attempts.

On USF's end, the Saints missed a pair of free throws in four tries in the last minute as part of an overall 14-for-24 reading (.583) at the foul line on the day.  From long range, St. Francis was just 3-of-15 (.200).  The Saints did, however, hold a .462-.394 edge over Campbellsville in overall field goal shooting.

St. Francis also converted 14 Campbellsville turnovers into 18 points compared with just eight points for the Tigers off USF miscues.  Campbellsville offset that with 20 second-chance points to USF's four with 15 offensive rebounds.

Charles led all scorers with 19 points with Davis totaling 17 and Te Jones, 12.  Ben Faatz recorded ten of USF's 34 rebounds, while Nadav Gerner and Dakoda Joachim each supplied four assists.

Jordan Graham's 12 points off the bench led Campbellsville, which also collected 11 points from Cobe Penny and 10 from Jace Wallace.

Notes: For the fifth time in eight games this season, the St. Francis defense held the opposition under 40 percent shooting from the field … Charles tied USF's season high for points with his 19 markers on Saturday.  He also authored a club-high three blocks … Joachim and Gerner both tied the season-high mark for assists with four … Davis tied his personal season high with his 17 points.  Both he and Jones have scored in double figures in five of their last six games … Charles has three straight games of ten-plus points … Campbellsville's six blocked shots were the most by a USF opponent this winter … St. Francis' 24 free-throw attempts were the most shot this season … The Saints' 20 percent shooting clip from three-point range was its lowest of the season … The opponent gets no easier on Sunday at 1 pm when NAIA No. 11 Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) plays in the Sullivan Center.     

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