Men's Basketball Defeats Goshen 57-55 for Fourth Consecutive Victory

CHICAGO – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team won its fourth consecutive game with a 57-55 non-conference victory over Goshen College (Ind.) on Tuesday, November 16 at the Goodman Center.  The Lakers raised their overall record to 4-1 on the year.

The game began with both teams struggling offensively and the first point of the game wasn't scored until just under two minutes in on a Caleb Brown free throw and Justus Mouton followed with a layup 40 seconds later to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead with 17:32 left in the first half.  Roosevelt extended the lead to 8-2 on a Lucas Jordan three-pointer and then led 10-4 after Eetu Villa hit two free throws with 14:12 to go.

Just over halfway into the period, Goshen pulled to within 15-14, but Josh Redic knocked down a three-pointer to give RU an 18-14 advantage with 8:59 remaining and pushed its lead to 25-18 with 4:47 on the clock on another three-point shot, this time by Andrew Sinke.  The Lakers then led 28-20 before the Leafs cut the margin to 28-26 with 46 seconds to go, and Roosevelt closed out the half up 31-29.

Goshen tied the game early in the second half and took its first lead of the contest at 33-32 with 17:18 left to play.  The Leafs kept up the momentum and extended their lead to 43-34 with 13:52 remaining.  The Lakers chipped away at the visitor's lead, tying the game up at 47-47 with just under seven minutes to play on a Mark Johnson free throw.  However, Goshen came back with a trey to lead 50-47 and held a 52-50 advantage with 5:08 to go.

Once again, both teams struggled down the stretch, but the Lakers regained the lead on a Saadique Perkins layup at 54-52 and held a 56-53 margin with 3:13 to play on an Ayomide Ajiboye layup.  Roosevelt's defense came up big in the final minutes, holding Goshen to just three points and grabbing crucial rebounds in the final minute, including forcing a miss on a last second shot for the 57-55 win.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Goshen                29           26           55
                Roosevelt            31           26           57

Records: Roosevelt 4-1 // Goshen 2-5

Location: Goodman Center | Chicago, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Josh Redic scored a team-high 14 points & had seven rebounds
• Justus Mouton chipped in with 10 points & four assists
• Ayomide Ajiboye had seven rebounds & three steals
• The Lakers shot just 31.6% from the field & 24.1% from three-point range
• Goshen was held to 37.3% shooting & 26.7% from behind the arc
• RU was outrebounded 42 to 34

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers have now won four straight games since opening the season with a loss to Illinois Tech
• Roosevelt is now 2-3 all-time versus Goshen
• Josh Redic has scored in double figures in all five games & leads the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game

NEXT UP

The Lakers return to CCAC Conference action on Saturday, November 20 when they travel to Deerfield, Ill. to take on Trinity International University.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm at Van Dixhorn Arena on the campus of Trinity International.