LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Aided by another 20-plus point performance from Aitor Anabitarte, the University of St. Francis men's basketball team gained an important 64-61 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Viterbo University (Wis.), while also securing its 20th win of the season on Saturday afternoon.

The triumph keeps the Fighting Saints (20-3, 14-2 CCAC) with a two-game advantage over Indiana University Northwest for first place in the league standings.

Shooting above the .500 mark proved crucial as head coach Ryan Marks' club improved to 10-0 when successfully converting at that rate.  That became possible by USF connecting on five of its final six attempts from the field and Rahmel Davis registering a crucial breakaway layup after a steal in the closing 40 seconds of the contest.  That breakaway layup came just after Viterbo (7-16, 5-11) had cut a 39-26 second-half deficit down to one point (59-58) with just over one minute remaining in the contest.

Viterbo's big break came midway into the second half.  Trailing 45-34 at the 15:29 mark, the V-Hawks went on their biggest run of the afternoon over the next seven minutes. In that span, the hosts delivered 12 points to USF's four, while taking advantage of three missed three-pointers and two turnovers by St. Francis to make it a two-point affair at 49-47.

The Saints would build their lead back up to five points on a pair of occasions, with the 5-of-6 effort down the stretch and five charity-stripe conversions allowing USF to hang on for the three-point victory.  At the same time, Viterbo hit on five of its 11 attempts (.455) from the field. 

Outside of the shooting percentages, the box score was nearly identical on all counts for both squads.  USF finished the game converting at a 51.0 percent mark from the field (25-of-49), while Viterbo registered a 41.4 percentage (24-of-58).  The Saints wound up finishing with one more three pointer than VU (4-3), while both teams labored from the free throw line with USF netting 10 of its 16 attempts to Viterbo's 8-of-16 showing. 

The V-Hawks edged out St. Francis in the rebounding battle (29-28), but the biggest difference between the two teams came on the offensive glass with VU coming out on top 10-5, which resulted in 12 second-chance points for the hosts.

Anabitarte secured team-high scoring honors for USF with his 21 points coming via an 8-of-10 performance from the floor, while Davis went 7-for-10 (16 points) with a team-high four assists.  Anabitarte was a key figure in the Saints' 31-point second half, where he was perfect from the floor (5-of-5), scoring 15 points and sinking each of his two three-point attempts.  He also went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Merrick Small led the Saints on the glass with nine boards, while also contributing 10 points.

Ben Faatz and Connor Casper were big assets off the bench defensively with each registering two blocked shots, while Don Joachim came up with two big steals and snatched four rebounds in his 11 minutes of action to go along with his four points.

Viterbo was led by Colin Adams' team-high 20 points, with Christian Rohde contributing another 10 markers.

Up Next
The Saints will be at home on Wednesday, February 12 when they face Governors State University in another CCAC matchup.  Tip-off is slated for 7 pm.

You can keep up with all things USF on X @USFSaints.