JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's basketball team used a big second half to gain its sixth victory of the 2024-25 campaign with an 82-66 decision over Hastings College (Neb.) on Sunday afternoon.  The Saints (6-1) came into the contest coming off three straight tightly-won games that were each decided by under 10 points over the past 11 days.

On Sunday, USF used a 45.2 percent shooting effort in the second half (14-of-31), including four three-pointers, to outscore the Broncos 48-29 after the break and pull away for the 16-point win.

Head coach Ryan Marks' club began the contest with a seven-point lead in the opening four minutes of play before Hastings (1-6) could get on track.  The Broncos eventually did late in the first half with a 6-0 run to take a 35-29 lead with just under three minutes remaining before the break.  USF was able to recover by scoring five of the final seven points of the half, starting with a Rahmel Davis layup followed by Nick Niego's three-pointer with under a minute to play to cut the deficit to 37-34 by the intermission.

Like it did similar to the first half, St. Francis opened the final 20 minutes of play with a 7-2 surge to take a 41-39 lead.  From there, following brief ties at 41 and 43, the Saints slowly extended their advantage before using a 10-3 run to push the lead to seven points (53-46) with just under ten minutes to play in the contest.  USF would hold between a four- and seven-point advantage the rest of the afternoon until a 15-6 scoring surge that spanned four minutes boosted the Saints to a 14-point lead (70-56) with 2:51 to play.  Ben Faatz and Aitor Anabitarte would combine for eight points in the remaining two minutes with Joffrey Nunnally and Don Joachim adding late layups to secure the 82-66 final score.

Nunnally led the second-half charge, scoring all 11 of his points for the Saints after the intermission, including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

For the game, a total of four St. Francis players scored at least ten points.  Anabitarte led the way with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Davis scored in double figures (15 points) for the fifth time this season.  Along with Nunally's 11 points, Joachim matched that number with his 3-for-6 performance from the floor and 5-of-6 showing at the charity stripe.

Quinn Johnson led Hastings with 15 points.

The Saints also held a 38-26 rebounding advantage in the contest.

Up Next
USF returns to conference action on Thursday, Dec. 5 when it travels to Bourbonnais, Ill. to take on Olivet Nazarene University at 7 pm.       

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