Lakers Rally Not Enough To Overcome Cougars

CHICAGO – Roosevelt's perimeter shooting heated up too late as the 20^th-ranked Lakers fell 92-78 to Saint Francis (Ind.) in a non-conference game Friday afternoon at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers (11-2) trailed by 26 points with 6:30 remaining in the game, when Maurice Commander knocked down a 3-pointer. It was the first of five consecutive possessions with a 3-pointer as part of a 17-2 run that was capped off by a Cody Mitchell layup with 3:27 remaining. Roosevelt began playing the foul game and cut the deficit to 10, but ran out of time in their attempts to trim it to single digits.

Roosevelt ended up making six 3-pointers in the final 6:30 of the game after sinking five in the first 33:30 of action. David Swedura hit a pair of big triples during that stretch to finish with eight points while Commander finished with a team-best 21 points. Forte Prater evenly split his 16 points between the two halves and Cody Mitchell scored five of his seven second-half points during the closing stretch to finish with 13 points.

For the first time all season, the Lakers never led in the game, but they stayed competitive with the Cougars for much of the first half. The game turned when Saint Francis closed the half on a 15-2 run to take a 23-point lead into the intermission. Yet the Lakers responded early in the second half with some takeaways in the press to cut into the deficit. Roosevelt finished with 13 points off Saint Francis' 13 turnovers in the game, and the Lakers continued to protect the ball with only seven turnovers themselves.

The Lakers will look to get back on track next Saturday against crosstown rival Saint Xavier at 3 p.m. in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Shannon Center.