Strong Second Half Pushes Lakers Past Crimson Wave

CHICAGO – Roosevelt used one of its signature strong second-half performances to distance itself from Calumet St. Joseph on Saturday with a 79-51 win to regain control of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Lakers (14-7, 11-2 CCAC) shot 56.7 percent from the field in the second half while holding the Crimson Wave to just 32.1 percent from the floor. It resulted in Roosevelt winning the final 20 minutes by 24 points, giving it a program-record third conference win by at least 25 points this season. The defense also cracked down and forced a plethora of turnovers from the Crimson Wave in the second half, turning those takeaways into easy points. Roosevelt scored 19 points off Calumet St. Joseph's 11 second-half turnovers to finish with 28 points off 19 Crimson Wave turnovers.

Yuri Swinford scored 11 of his team-best 17 points in the second half as he did a little bit of everything for the Lakers. In addition to his 17 points, the graduate transfer also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out five assists and came up with three steals. Shane Stevensen found his game in the second half as well with seven points on 3 of 4 shooting to finish with 12 points in the game. Ayo Ajiboye finished with eight points and seven rebounds while Julio Montes scored 11 points and dished out a season-best eight helpers in the contest.

It wasn't until midway through the first half that Roosevelt started to look like the team that started the day tied atop the conference standings. The Lakers were uncharacteristically sloppy to start the game and dug itself a 10-point hole in the opening 10 minutes of play. Roosevelt committed seven turnovers and took just eight shots in that span while Calumet St. Joseph made 7 of 16 shots from the floor.

Ajiboye's layup with 9:46 left in the first half ended up being the turning point in the game. The Crimson Wave made just 2 of 14 from the field for the rest of the first half as part of a 20-5 run that gave the Lakers a four-point lead at halftime. Roosevelt made 8 of 16 from the floor in that span, including that layup from Ajiboye as well as a transition alley-oop from Swinford to Ajiboye that brought the crowd to its feet.

The only moment that topped Ajiboye's alley-oop came with 1:48 left in the game when Daniel Okogun made his Roosevelt debut after battling injury for much of the past three years. The junior took the first pass he received and backed his defender into the lane before spinning around and draining a jumper, sending the Lakers bench into near-delirium.

Matt Myers moved into fifth place all-time in career starts at Roosevelt with his 79^th start in the Green and White. He finished with seven points, all at the free throw line, to sit seventh in all-time scoring.

The win coupled with Olivet Nazarene's loss at Holy Cross on Saturday puts Roosevelt back atop the CCAC by itself after the weekend. However, the Lakers will now have to travel to Notre Dame, Ind. to face Holy Cross, with the two teams scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip off at McKenna Arena.