JOLIET, Ill. -- Three University of St. Francis men's basketball players scored in double figures, including Joffrey Nunnally, who authored his eighth career 20-point game, to produce a 68-56 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Trinity Christian College on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints (13-6, 8-4 CCAC) led from the start after jumping out to a 22-8 lead in the game's first 10 minutes.  An 11-2 scoring surge by TCC saw the hosts' advantage quickly diminish to just five points, however, over the next three minutes of play after a trio of back-to-back three pointers shifted the momentum into the Trolls' favor.  The two teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the first half before the Saints settled for a matching five-point margin (33-28) going into halftime.

Control stayed in St. Francis' favor throughout the second half, with the Saints never relinquishing the lead.  The Trolls (10-10, 7-5) would get as close as one point with 15:10 to go, but a 21-6 outburst over the next 10 minutes gave USF its largest lead of the night at 56-40.  Nunnally would account for nine of the team's points during that scoring stretch, with Greyson Harrington and Damarcies Moore each sinking a three-pointer in the mix.  Merrick Small would add five more points to his scoring total in the remaining five minutes, helping USF keep its lead out of the Trolls' reach en route to the 68-56 final score.

St. Francis converted at a 56.5 percent clip (13-of-23) from the field in the second half, while finishing the night at 53.1 percent (26-of-49) overall.  The Saints also out-performed the Trolls in the paint (26-18) and from beyond the arc (30-21), resulting in a combined 17-point differential between the two categories.

Nunnally connected on all but one of his field goal attempts (8-for-9) and was 4-for-5 from long range part of his game-high 21-point night.  He also contributed two assists.

Small (4 rebounds) and Dakoda Joachim (six) were the only other Saint players to finish in the double-digit scoring column, each totaling 11 markers, to go along with a combined 10 of the Saints' 30 total rebounds.

Brandon Adorno topped the offensive effort for Trinity Christian.  He was one of only two Eagle players to score in double figures on the night, tallying 19 points.

Up Next
The Saints are back in action on Wednesday (Jan. 28) when they travel to Whiting, Ind. to faceoff against Calumet College of St. Joseph in another CCAC battle. The game is slated for a 7 pm tipoff.

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