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University of St. Francis (III.)

University of St. Francis (III.)
Merrick Small MBKB (1/7/26)
58
Saint Xavier (IL) SXU 6-8, 4-3
59
Winner St. Francis (IL) USF 10-4, 5-2
Saint Xavier (IL) SXU
6-8, 4-3
58
Final
59
St. Francis (IL) USF
10-4, 5-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Saint Xavier (IL) SXU 33 25 58
St. Francis (IL) USF 37 22 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Small’s Late Three-Point Play Delivers Clutch Win For Saints; Marks Earns 400th Career Win

JOLIET, Ill. -- Merrick Small scored eight of his 13 points in the second half, including a game-clinching three-point play, to lift the University of St. Francis men's basketball team to a 59-58 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Saint Xavier University on Wednesday night at the Pat Sullivan Center.  Overall, USF is now 10-4 overall on the season and 5-0 in league play.

The win against the Cougars earned head coach Ryan Marks' 400th career coaching victory.

The game was tight throughout with 10 lead changes and another seven ties.  Neither team led by more than five points in the opening half with the Saints holding the majority of the advantage in the opening 20 minutes and later taking a 37-33 lead into the intermission.

USF carried its momentum into the opening two minutes and thirty seconds of the second half with a nine-point run to widen the scoring margin to 13 points - an advantage the Saints would be able to hold for the first 15 minutes following the break.  The Cougars were able to stem the tide at that point, however, and began to erase their double-digit deficit after authoring their largest run of the night over the next 12 minutes.  In that span, the guests delivered 23 points to USF's nine, while taking advantage of four missed three-pointers and six turnovers by St. Francis to grab their first lead of the second half (56-55) at the 5:41 mark.  The Saints quickly knotted the score back up at 56-all on their next possession with a Small free throw, only to have Saint Xavier net one more bucket to retake the lead at 58-56.  Small's strong layup through two defenders and subsequent free throw at the 2:53 mark produced the three-point play the Saints needed to go back ahead 59-58.  That proved to be the clincher after both teams came up short on all their remaining tries, including a SXU miss on a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

St. Francis out-scored the guests 11-5 on second-chance points, highlighted by 14 offensive rebounds among its 40 total.  The Saints also claimed a 19-16 advantage on points off turnovers.

Small's 13 points were only second to Damarcies Moore's 14 markers, while Small also gained top honors in rebounds (11) resulting in his third double-double of the season.  Dakoda Joachim added another seven points and five rebounds to the Saints' totals.  Small and Joachim combined to convert 12-of-16 attempts from the charity stripe as part of an 18-of-29 total team showing for USF.

Mekhi Wilson topped Saint Xavier's chart with 22 points.  Davion Lawrence provided another 13 points for the Cougars.

Up Next
The Saints will take the court again Saturday afternoon (January 10) when they face-off against Indiana University South Bend in another CCAC matchup.  Gametime is slated for 2:00pm CST.

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