JOLIET, Ill. --- A season-low 35.6 percent shooting clip (21-of-59) failed to deter the University of St. Francis men's basketball team from scratching out a 61-52 victory over Trinity Christian College in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon at the Sullivan Center.

Instead, the Saints (12-10, 11-6 CCAC) just turned it up a notch defensively, holding Trinity Christian to a season-low of its own with its 52 points.  The Trolls (9-14, 5-12) shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) for the afternoon.

Neither team could pull away from the other for the majority of the contest.  The Saints' biggest lead in the first half was eight points (22-14) before Trinity Christian rallied with 14 of the next 18 points to take its only lead of the day, 28-26, with 42 seconds remaining before halftime.

Jake Karli forced one of seven ties in the contest 22 seconds later to send the two teams into the break even at 28-all. 

After converting at just a 30 percent clip from the field in the opening half, the Saints were 12 percentage points higher in the closing 20 minutes when they hit on 11-of-26 shots (42.3 pct.).  That allowed them to hold a slight advantage for most of the second half.  After ties resulted at 30, 32, 34 and 36 points, the Saints went up for good 38-36 on an Aitor Anabitarte layup with 15:25 to play.

Anabitarte was a key piece to the Saints maintaining the lead in the second half and stretching the advantage to double figures late in the contest.  He netted 14 of his game-high 18 points after halftime to go along with seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Also crucial was USF's foul shooting after both teams scored the same number of field goals (21).  The Saints were 16-of-21 at the free-throw line, while Trinity Christian was 8-of-11.

Besides Anabitarte, St. Francis also gained 12 points and three steals from EJ Charles and ten points from Lewis McGlasson.  Carter Fayhee led all players on the boards with a career-high 13.  He also had a game-high five assists.

Jayden Bridgeman led Trinity Christian with 16 points.  Troy Glover authored a double-double with his 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Notes: The contest was the first of four in a row at the Sullivan Center for USF … The Saints recognized their six seniors prior to the start of the game: Arnold Agard, Charles, Fayhee, Tyler Irvin, Karli and Darius Wright.  For Agard, it marked his first appearance of the season after battling injury all year … The 52 points allowed by St. Francis were its second-fewest on the season … USF's long-range shooting struggles continued into a second game.  The Saints went 5-for-43 (11.6 pct.) from beyond the arc this week … St. Francis hosts Holy Cross College on Wednesday at 7 pm.      

Links to live coverage can be found at gofightingsaints.com/coverage. You can also keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on Twitter @USFSaints.