Lakers Stun Fighting Saints With Last-Minute Rally

JOLIET, Ill. – Roosevelt made sure to use every second of the 40 minutes allotted to it Tuesday night to win its fourth straight game with a thrilling 80-78 victory over St. Francis (Ill.) in Joliet.

The fun began right after Jared Bohrer fouled St. Francis with 1:13 left in the game and the Fighting Saints made both free throws to take a 78-71 lead. Julio Montes II threaded a pass into the paint to Ayo Ajiboye, who missed the first layup but pushed the rebound over the rim through contact to earn a three-point play. Roosevelt then sat down and played tight defense and forced a miss, which Yuri Swinford corralled and pushed down the floor before finding Montes for a transition 3-pointer.

Head coach Dee Brown called a timeout to set up the Lakers' press, and it worked to perfection by forcing the Fighting Saints to throw the inbounds pass out of bounds. Some crafty offense allowed Swinford to isolate himself and drive the lane to deposit the layup that gave the Lakers the lead a mere 48 seconds after trailing by seven. Active hands from Swinford forced another bad pass with 10 seconds left, and after Tyree Spencer split his free throws, the Lakers snuffed out St. Francis' final two chances at the rim for an improbable victory.

Although Swinford's layup didn't give Roosevelt its first lead of the game, it was the first time the Lakers had led since it was 21-20 with nine minutes remaining in the first half. After surrendering that lead, the Lakers managed to tie the game just once until they took the lead for good, when Montes opened the second half with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 40. Although the Fighting Saints were never able to lead by more than eight points, the advantage was hovering at two possessions for most of the game thanks largely to St. Francis 40-22 edge in points in the paint.

Yet despite also being outrebounded in the game, Roosevelt was always able to execute on offense, shooting 49 percent for the game, including 52 percent in the second half. The Lakers were especially efficient from deep by making 9 of 18 from 3-point range led by a 4 of 8 effort from Montes behind the arc. Montes' team-high 16 points were pretty evenly spread, but it was Swinford who shined the brightest when called upon in the second half. The transfer scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes, also contributing with four rebounds, two assists and an efficient 5 for 6 from the free-throw line in the second half. Three other Lakers players finished in double figures with Ajiboye scoring 11, Bohrer notching 10 and freshman Shane Stevensen also scoring 10 points off the bench.

Roosevelt (5-3, 4-1 CCAC) will have a little more than a week to calm down after all the excitement before it pumps up the crowd at the Goodman Center in its next game. The Lakers will host Holy Cross on November 30 at 7:30 p.m. as they look for their fifth straight win and fourth straight victory in conference play.