JOLIET, Ill. --- A pair of three-point plays from Carter Fayhee and Aitor Anabitarte as part of a closing 12-2 run in the final 2:13 of its Chcagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup versus Holy Cross College enabled the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to rally for a 74-67 victory at the Sullivan Center on Wednesday night. 

Both players contributed five points each at the end with Fayhee totaling 16 of his team-high 22 points after the break to go along with nine rebounds and three assists.  Anabitarte also had a big second half with 11 of his 15 points coming after the intermission.  He also turned in seven rebounds.

EJ Charles, meanwhile, helped the Saints (13-10, 12-6 CCAC) open up a 36-28 halftime lead by accounting for 12 of his 15 points and three of his six rebounds in the first 20 minutes.  A 13-2 run aided by six points from Fayhee and four more from Charles in the opening half turned a 21-16 deficit into a 29-23 lead with 5:08 remaining before the break.

USF's advantage would get as high as 15 points, 54-39, with a little over 12 minutes remaining before Holy Cross would go on a 22-4 tear over the next seven minutes to take a 61-58 lead.  The visitors made all five of their free throws and 7-of-8 field goals, while committing just one turnover during that stretch of time.

For the final half, Holy Cross (11-14, 7-11) shot 76.5 percent from the field (13-of-17), but did itself in with ten of its 13 turnovers coming after the break, including five in the last five minutes.  St. Francis, on the opposite side, tied a season-low with its seven turnovers.

The Saints also shot very well at the free-throw line, finishing at a season-high .941 clip (16-of-17).

Holy Cross, which was led by Tommy Snyder's game-high 25 points, finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field (25-of-50), while the Saints were 27-of-57 (.474).

Notes: The victory was the fifth one in six conference games for the Saints … Fayhee's 22 points were his second-highest scoring output of his St. Francis career … Head coach Ryan Marks' club has now won four of its last five games decided by single digits to move over the .500 mark in those games for the year (8-7) … USF hosts a non-conference matchup against East-West University on Saturday at 3 pm.

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