SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- A closing 15-2 run by Indiana University South Bend put an end to both the University of St. Francis men's basketball team's upset bid and season on Tuesday night in opening-round play of the 2023 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.  The No. 4-seeded Titans rallied for a 51-50 victory to take two of three games from the No. 5-seeded Saints on the season.

Donyell Meredith II capped off an outstanding personal performance with the final two points of the game on a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining.  The 6-4 senior guard accounted for better than half of the Titans' points, finishing with 26 markers, 22 of which came in the second half when he registered all five of his three-pointers.

No other Titan had more than seven points.

USF (16-11) was led by EJ Charles' 12 points and 10 points and nine rebounds from Aitor Anabitarte.

St. Francis did have one final shot at pulling off the upset following Meredith's two free throws but its final attempt inside the lane with two seconds remaining rolled around the rim and out after being partially blocked. 

Both teams struggled to find their offensive games throughout the night with neither unit shooting better than 37 percent for the contest.  The first two points of the game did not come until the 13:42 mark of the opening half after the two teams combined to miss their first 12 shots and turn the ball over five times. 

The first two points, interestingly enough, came from a player off the bench.  USF's Casmir Ochiaka finally broke the ice with a layup.

By the nine-minute mark of the first half, Indiana South Bend held a 5-2 lead with the hosts going 2-for-12 from the field up to that point and St. Francis going 1-for-9 with eight turnovers.  By halftime, IUSB held an 18-16 edge after going 7-for-22 from the field (31.8 pct.) to USF's 6-of-24 reading (25 pct.).

Neither team would hold more than a five-point lead over the first 28 minutes of the contest before the Saints went on an 8-0 run sparked by six points from Lewis McGlasson to open up a 39-29 advantage. 

That lead would eventually get as high as 48-36 with 4:36 to play before Meredith took over.  He accounted for ten of Indiana South Bend's final 15 points with two three-pointers and a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the foul line.

USF, meanwhile, managed only one field goal in the closing nine-plus minutes to go along with seven free throws.  The Saints' last field goal came with 5:05 remaining to put them up 46-36.

After going 1-for-8 on three-point attempts in the first half, the Titans went 7-for-13 from that range after the intermission.  USF was 2-for-12 from beyond the arc in the closing 20 minutes.

Notes: The Saints' 50 points and Indiana South Bend's 51 markers were the lowest offensive outputs of the season for both clubs … The 101 combined points were the fewest for a St. Francis game this season … Two of IUSB's three-lowest scoring games came against USF.  The Titans managed only 56 points in their last meeting on Jan. 18 … Tuesday's 51 points were the second-fewest scored by a St. Francis opponent this season … The game featured five ties and seven lead changes … USF's 36 percent shooting mark from the field was its second-lowest of the season … After shooting better than 70 percent from the free throw line for much of the season, the Saints closed out the campaign shooting below that mark in each of their last four games, including 64.3 percent on Tuesday … After going 7-2 on the road to start the season, St. Francis closed out the campaign dropping its final two away contests … Seventeen of the Saints' 27 games on the year were decided by single digits and they went 8-9 in said contests.    

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