JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis men's basketball team became the first squad to solve Governors State University's late-season winning surge and it could not have come at a more opportune time.  The No. 1-seeded Saints halted the No. 7-seeded Jaguars' five-game road winning streak with a 73-63 victory Saturday evening to claim the program's first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship since the 2018-19 season.

The win was also the 25th victory of the season for the Saints, a feat last accomplished when St. Francis authored a 28-4 record in 2014-15.

From the field, USF (25-5) hit 48.9 percent of its shots (23-of-47), while Governors State  (15-16) had the same number of field goals and five more attempts (23-for-52) for a 44.2 percent reading.  While the Saints also won the rebounding battle, 35-26, both teams managed to coax 11 turnovers and four steals apiece, resulting in defensive parity throughout the contest.  The biggest differences in the game were found within the success rates from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line, with USF posting a 50.0 percent mark (7-of-14) in the former category, while the Jaguars only hit 2-of-10 tries for a 20 percent reading.  From the stripe, USF bested the Jaguars 20-15, which, when combined, resulted in the 10-point edge the Saints needed to claim the tournament title.

Four of five St. Francis starters totaled at least ten points in the contest topped by Rahmel Davis' 14 to go along with six rebounds.  Merrick Small (12 points, nine rebounds) and Aitor Anabitarte (10 points, nine rebounds) were both one rebound shy of registering double-doubles on the night, while Delshawn Simms rounded out the double-digit scorers by sinking a game-high three treys en route to his 12 points.

Vincent Davis led Governors State with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

After maintaining a slight three-point advantage during the opening six minutes of the contest, the Saints got their lead as high as five points in the opening half before extending it to a 35-28 advantage after Nick Niego sank a trey in the final seconds before the break.  The three-pointer would end a string of eight straight layups for the Saints, who utilized their size advantage to net 20 of their 35 points from the paint in the stanza.

USF's aggressive offensive strategy also fueled its fast start in the second half.  After Governors State blocked the Saints' opening shot attempt, St. Francis accounted for 12 of the next 17 points during a five-minute span to open a 47-33 lead.  GSU missed seven of its nine field goal attempts during that stretch, while the Saints produced all 12 of their points via its inside presence.  

Governors State's only serious charge after the intermission came just after USF's lead swelled to 18 points at 59-41 with 9:14 remaining in the game.  The Jaguars put together an 18-6 scoring surge over a seven-minute span to get within 65-59 at the 2:14 mark.  The guests would not be able to cut the lead any further from that point on, however, as the Saints maintained the separation through free throws to eventually seal the 10-point win.  USF, in fact, would connect for just one field goal in eight tries during the last nine minutes and 14 seconds of the game, instead scoring the remainder of its points from charity-stripe offerings (11-of-19).

Up Next
The Saints are off until March 14 when they compete in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. Where and who they will play will be announced as part of the NAIA's Bracket Reveal this coming Thursday at 7 pm on the NAIA YouTube page.

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