Men's Basketball Holds Off Stritch Late For 74-70 Win
By Matt Kozlak, special contributor to RooseveltLakers.com
CHICAGO – The Roosevelt men's basketball team built a 15-point lead against visiting Cardinal Stritch and held on late for a 74-70 victory at the Goodman Center on Monday.
Brian Kern led the Lakers (5-15, 5-7 CCAC) in scoring with 16 points, going 6-9 from the field, and collecting four rebounds.
Matt Myers and Josh Redic both chipped in 12 points, and Quin Riggins added 11 points off the bench to lead a 25-point effort from the Lakers' reserves.
Niko Travica led the Wolves (8-12, 3-9 CCAC) with a game-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds, while Nemanja Knezevic contributed with a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards.
The Lakers outscored the Wolves in the first half behind 57 percent (16-for-28) shooting, which would be enough to hold off the Wolves in the second half. The biggest lead of the game came in the first half with the Lakers up by 15 points late in the stanza.
Cardinal Stritch scored 40 points in the paint for a sizeable advantage in that category thanks to the sizeable duo of Travica and Knezevic, and the Wolves would rally to claim the lead after halftime.
The Wolves took their first lead in the second half with about 11 minutes to play, but could only control the contest for the minutes before foul trouble from the Wolves padded the Laker lead up to 6 points.
Travica converted a three-point play with 28 seconds remaining to cut the Laker lead to three points, and Stritch fouled Redic moments later. Redic missed the first free throw but calmly made the second to make it a two-possession game, and the Lakers' defense held firm in the final seconds.
Roosevelt has now won three of its last four conference contests.
"We got impactful contributions from a lot of guys tonight, and our defense clamped down in the second half and we were able to hold them off after we squandered the lead," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said. "The biggest takeaway is that we kept our turnovers at a reasonable number, and as a result we were able to win. We had no answer for Knezevic and Travica, but we did a solid job of containing the rest of the team.
"We have a quick turnaround this week, so now we'll try to keep it going."
Roosevelt continues its homestand with CCAC action at the Goodman Center on Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:30 pm against Governors State.