DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Dakoda Joachim authored a career-best showing and the University of St. Francis men's basketball team dominated St. Ambrose University (Iowa) from the start in an 89-52 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday night at Lee Lohman Arena.  Joachim registered a game-high 23 points, with a 90.9 shooting mark from the floor (10-of-11) to go along with his 3-of-3 performance from beyond the arc, as the senior guard combined with teammate Justen Morgan for seven of USF's 11 three-pointers.

The win gave the Saints (16-6) their eleventh league victory of the 2025-26 campaign against just four losses, springing them into a tie for second-place in the league standings.  St. Ambrose fell to 10-13 overall, while dropping to 7-8 in league play.

After jumping out to a quick 13-0 lead to start the game, and later winning the race to 20 with a 21-9 advantage, St. Francis never relinquished the lead to the Bees during the first half.  St. Ambrose was able to cut their deficit to single digits with a deep three pointer followed by an immediate steal and layup that resulted in a five-point swing (23-16) at the 6:20 mark, but USF would go on to score 11 of the next 15 points to take a 34-20 scoring margin going into the intermission.

Carrying its wave of momentum into the second half, St. Francis put its offense into full force to start the final 20 minutes, connecting on seven of their first eight possessions - including nine straight points from Joachim who thrust the energy into high gear for USF after connecting for a breakaway dunk and a deep three-pointer to help the Saints double up the score on the hosts with a 48-24 advantage by the 16:40 mark.  Following that 14-4 run, St. Francis would deliver three treys over its next six possessions to push ahead by 25 points (56-31).  USF would eventually expand its advantage to as high as 39 points over the Bees, who would never get the deficit under 20 points the rest of the evening.

USF finished the night shooting 59.7 percent from the field (37-of-62), aided by a three-point shooting clip of 39.3 percent (11-of-28).  For the game, the Bees shot 28.6 percent from the field (18-of-63) and 25.9 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-27).  The Saints were also able to control the game by holding a 42-32 rebounding advantage.

Merrick Small (17 points), Joffrey Nunnally (15) and Morgan (12) all joined Joachim in producing double-digit numbers, while Small accounted for a game-high 10 rebounds leading to his fourth double-double of the season.  Joachim also got it done on the defensive end with his game-high five steals.

Ignacio Dacunda totaled 17 points and seven rebounds for St. Ambrose.

Up Next
With five more conference contests to go, St. Francis will take the court again on Saturday (Feb. 7) in a battle for first-place bragging rights when they stay at home to host current league leader Governors State University, which brings a record of 15-7, 11-3 into the game.  Tip-off is at 3 pm in the Pat Sullivan Center.

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