Swinford's Career Day Lifts Lakers Over Bees

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Yuri Swinford scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Roosevelt Lakers to an 84-73 win over St. Ambrose on Saturday afternoon in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference game in Davenport, Iowa.

Swinford, who transferred from Henderson State to Roosevelt this summer, was dominant in the second half as the Lakers (2-3, 2-1 CCAC) pulled away from the Fighting Bees. He scored 21 points in the final 20 minutes, making 6 of 8 field goals as well as shooting 8 of 10 from the free throw line. He was also a force on defense with all three of his blocks coming in the second half. He finished with seven rebounds as well in the victory.

Although Roosevelt allowed St. Ambrose to shoot 48 percent from the field, the Lakers forced the Fighting Bees into plenty of mistakes. The Lakers had 25 takeaways in the game and turned them into 32 points, allowing them to really pull away in the second half. Roosevelt only led by six points at halftime and trailed for the final time in the game with five minutes left in the first half.

However, the St. Ambrose turnovers gave Roosevelt the juice to increase the lead to double figures within the first two minutes of the second half. The Lakers would lead by as many as 19 in the second half with a combination of takeaways and efficient shooting helping them build the lead. They shot better than 54 percent in the second half, including connecting on 4 of 7 from behind the arc, then sank 20 of 27 free throws in the half to close out the contest.

The Lakers also received a big boost from Jared Bohrer, who made his Roosevelt debut off the Saturday. The freshman scored nine points, seven of which came in the second half, including two big 3-pointers. Chima Nwosu added 10 points as did Matt Myers, tying for the Lakers' second-leading scorer behind Swinford. Julio Montes II also had nine points while Tyree Spencer led the team with four helpers.

Roosevelt looks to even its record Tuesday night when it travels for a non-conference matchup against Goshen at 6 p.m. in Indiana.