JOLIET, Ill. -- Three University of St. Francis men's basketball players scored in double figures, including Rahmel Davis, who authored his ninth career 20-point game, to produce a 66-57 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over St. Ambrose University (Iowa) on Wednesday night.

The Fighting Saints (3-1, 1-0 CCAC) trailed at the start with St. Ambrose jumping out to a 14-6 lead in the game's first six minutes.  A similar 15-6 scoring surge by USF saw the hosts grab a 21-20 lead with eight minutes remaining in the half.  Four fast-break points from Don Joachim fueled the outburst and Davis capped it off with a successful three-point conversion.  Davis would add eight more points to his scoring total in the remaining eight minutes, helping USF stretch its lead to as many as 10 points before settling for a six-point margin (35-29) going into halftime.  The senior forward would net 13 of his game-high 20 points and five of his game-high eight rebounds on the night in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

Control stayed in St. Francis' favor throughout the second half, with the Saints never relinquishing the lead.  The Fighting Bees (5-1, 1-1) would get as close as two points with 18:40 to go, but a 20-8 outburst over the next 10 minutes gave USF its largest lead of the night at 55-41.  Davis and Joachim would combine for half of the team's points during that scoring stretch, with Merrick Small adding six.  The Bees slowly chipped away at that deficit and got it down to five points (62-57) with 91 seconds left following a string of layups.  Ill-timed SAU fouls down the stretch, however, allowed Davis and Joachim to go a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to secure the 66-57 win.

Davis was joined by Joachim and Small in double figures.  Joachim authored a 5-for-10 shooting performance resulting in 12 points, while Small managed to put up 10 points.

Along with Davis' eight rebounds, Aitor Anabitarte matched that same total - while also authoring a momentum-changing block in the game's final minutes - leading to the Saints' 36-31 rebounding advantage.

St. Francis converted at a 50 percent clip (13-of-26) from the field in the first half, while finishing the night at 44.2 percent (23-of-52).  The Bees out-shot St. Francis at 46.6 percent, but struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on only one attempt in 16 tries for a 6.3 percent success rate. 

Guillermo Narbona had a big night for St. Ambrose, finishing with a team-high 19 points.  He was one of two Bees to hit for double figures.

Up Next
The Saints are on the road again next Tuesday, Nov. 26 when they face Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Ill. for a 7:30 pm tip-off.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on @USFSaints.