Men's Basketball Wins CCAC Conference Thriller 68-67 Over Holy Cross

CHICAGO – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team pushed its winning streak to three games with a thrilling 68-67 CCAC Conference victory over Holy Cross College on Wednesday, January 26 at the Goodman Center.  The win raised the Lakers conference record to 10-5 and their overall record to 15-7 on the year.

The Lakers took a 2-0 lead to start the contest on a Caleb Brown layup and the two teams were then tied at 8-8 five minutes into the game.  Holy Cross then scored the next five points to take a 13-8 lead and stayed ahead for the remainder of the first half.  Roosevelt cut the margin to 20-16 with 8:54 left after a Trenton Kyler three-pointer, but the Saints continued to build on their lead and headed to the locker room with a 38-26 advantage.

Five minutes into the second half, the Lakers stepped up their defensive play and began to chip away at the lead, jumping ahead 44-43 on another Kyler three with 14:17 to play.  The two teams traded the lead for the next few minutes before Holy Cross went ahead 52-46 with just over 10 minutes left. 

The Lakers made a run later in the half with Quin Riggins knocking down a three-pointer to make it a one-point game at 54-53, while Anthony Martinez hit a free throw and Jordan Lucas added a three-pointer to put the home team up 57-54 with just over six minutes on the clock. 

Holy Cross once again tied the game and regained the lead at 59-58 with 3:58 remaining, but a trey by Kyler put the Lakers up 61-59 and the freshman hit another with 2:03 to go to make it a 64-61 game in favor of RU.  After a Saints free throw, Kyler came through on the defensive end with a steal and scored on a layup on the other side of the court to up the Lakers lead to 66-62 with 36 ticks left.

The Saints connected on a jumper 10 seconds later, but Justus Mouton hit two clutch free throws with seven seconds to go to make it a 68-64 contest.  Both teams committed turnovers in the final seconds, and Holy Cross connected on a three-pointer with under a second to play, but the Lakers were able to inbound the ball to kill the clock for the 68-67 conference win.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Holy Cross           38           29           67          
                Roosevelt            26           42           68

Records: Roosevelt 15-7, 10-5 (CCAC) | Holy Cross 10-13, 5-10 (CCAC)

Location: Goodman Center | Chicago, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Trenton Kyler scored a team-high 17 points along with three assists & two steals
• Caleb Brown registered 14 points, eight rebounds, & three blocks
• RU shot 53.8% from three-point range & 44.2% from the field
• HCC shot 43.3% overall & 36.8% from behind the arc
• The Saints held a 40 to 29 advantage over the Lakers on the boards
• The Lakers bench outscored the Saints bench 22-13

NEWS & NOTES

• RU is now 6-8 in the all-time series with HCC
• The Lakers sit in third place of the CCAC with a 10-5 record
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers continue CCAC Conference play on Saturday, January 29 when they travel to Palos Heights, Ill. to take on Trinity Christian College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm at DeVos Gymnasium on Trinity Christian's campus.