Men's Basketball Earns 64-61 Comeback Victory Over CCAC Conference Foe Governors Statek

CHICAGO – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team extended its winning streak to three games with a come from behind 64-61 victory over Governors State University in CCAC Conference action on Saturday, December 4 at the Goodman Center.  The win raised the Lakers conference record to 4-2 and their overall record to 7-3 this season.

The first quarter started slowly for both teams with the Jaguars taking an 8-7 lead with 15:46 on the clock and that score holding steady for the next three minutes.  Josh Redic then hit two straight three-pointers to give the Lakers a 13-10 lead and Quin Riggins followed with a trey of his own to put Roosevelt up 16-10 with 10:08 to go. 

Governors State came back to regain the lead and held a 30-27 advantage with 27 seconds to go, but Eetu Villa's last-second three-pointer bounced around the rim and fell through to tie the game at 30-30 at the half-time break.

The Jaguars came out red hot to begin the second half, scoring the first 12 points to take a 42-30 lead over the Lakers.  Governors State pushed its lead to as large as 13 points at 50-37 with 13:09 remaining, but Roosevelt slowly chipped away at the margin and cut the deficit down to 54-49 with 7:50 to go. 

The Lakers continued their momentum and pulled to within 56-55 before a three-pointer by the Jaguars put them back up 59-55.  Roosevelt then scored the next seven points on a dunk by Caleb Brown, three-pointer from Lucas Jordan, and a layup from Quin Riggins to jump ahead at 62-59 with 2:22 left to play. 

GSU made it a one-point game with 2:01 on the clock, but that would be the last points the visitors would score the rest of the way, while Brown restored the Lakers three-point advantage on a layup with 1:09 remaining.  RU's defense held strong down the stretch and denied the Jaguars a game-tying three-point attempt as the clock expired.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Governors State               30           31           61
                Roosevelt                            30           34           64

Records: Roosevelt 7-3, 4-2 (CCAC) | Governors State 5-8, 2-4 (CCAC)

Location: Goodman Center | Chicago, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Caleb Brown scored a game-high 16 points to go with four rebounds & two steals
• Josh Redic tallied 11 points, four rebounds, & three assists
• Eetu Villa added 11 points, along with three rebounds & three assists
• Ayomide Ajiboye pulled down a team-high eight rebounds
• RU shot 35.9% from the field & 40.9% from behind the three-point line
• GSU shot 37.1% overall & 25% from three-point range
• The Lakers were outrebounded 46 to 38 by the Jaguars
• Roosevelt's bench outscored Governors State's bench 32 to 19

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers are now 6-5 versus the Jaguars in the all-time series
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers travel 10 miles north on Tuesday, December 7 to take on NCAA Division I foe Loyola University at the Gentile Arena in Chicago.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm.