Lakers Defeat Calumet St. Joseph 80-77 for CCAC Conference Victory in Men's Basketball

WHITING, Ind. – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team defeated Calumet College of St. Joseph by the score of 80-77 in CCAC Conference action on Saturday, January 22 at the Rittenmeyer Center.  The victory broke a two-game losing streak for the Lakers, raising their conference record to 8-5 and their overall record to 13-7 on the year.

The beginning stages of the first half saw the two teams trade the lead on several occasions before the Crimson Wave broke a 13-13 tie and jumped ahead 19-14 with 13:11 left to go in the opening stanza.  The Lakers pulled to within 19-18 after Justus Mouton hit back-to-back jump shots, but Calumet St. Joseph came right back to increase its lead to 24-18 with 11:02 remaining. 

Roosevelt evened things up at 26-26 after five points from Andrew Veon and a three-pointer by Trenton Kyler, and the Lakers kept up the momentum to take a 36-30 lead after a Mark Johnson jump shot.  However, the Crimson Wave battled back to take a 40-38 lead with just over five minutes to go and led 42-41 with 4:54 on the clock.  The Lakers got hot at the end of the half to build a 50-46 half-time lead behind four points by Kyler and a three-pointer from Anthony Martinez.

The Lakers increased their lead to 57-48 on two Veon free throws early on, but the home team scored the next six points to trail 57-54 with 13:09 left to play.  Veon then hit a jumper for RU, and once again, the Crimson Wave answered back, taking back the lead and holding a 62-59 advantage with just under 10 minutes remaining. 

Trenton Kyler came up big for the Lakers again, hitting a three and a two-point jump shot to give his team a 66-62 lead with 8:30 to go.  RU would hold the lead until late in the game when Calumet St. Joseph tied the game at 77-77 with 1:33 left on the clock.  In the final minute, Matt Myers hit a jumper and Kyler connected on a free throw while the RU defense held the Crimson Wave scoreless for the 80-77 conference win.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt                            50           30           80
                Calumet St. Joseph          46           31           77

Records: Roosevelt 13-7, 8-5 (CCAC) | Calumet St. Joseph 4-11, 3-10 (CCAC)

Location: Rittenmeyer Center | Whiting, Ind.

KEY STATS

• Trenton Kyler scored a game-high 27 points to go with five rebounds
• Andrew Veon posted 17 points, six rebounds, & three steals
• Caleb Brown chipped in with 10 points
• Matt Myers pulled down seven rebounds & had three assists
• Anthony Martinez grabbed six rebounds
• RU shot 50.9% from the field & 50% from three-point range
• CCSJ shot 41.8% overall & 64.3% from behind the arc
• The Lakers held a slight 33 to 31 rebound advantage over the Crimson Wave

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers swept the season series from the Crimson Wave, winning 86-66 on 11/3/21 as well
• RU evened up the all-time series versus CCSJ at 7-7
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers travel to Elgin, Ill. on Monday, January 24 to take on Judson University.  The CCAC Conference contest will tip-off at 7pm at the Lindner Fitness Center on the campus of Judson.