Roosevelt's Season Ends In CCAC Quarters Against RedHawks

CHICAGO – The 2022-23 season came to an abrupt end for Roosevelt in the quarterfinals of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday night at the Goodman Center.

The third-seeded Lakers never led against sixth-seeded Indiana University Northwest, dropping a 74-68 decision to the visiting RedHawks. With the loss, Roosevelt finishes the year 19-10 overall and 16-4 in the CCAC.

Roosevelt's offense never clicked in the first half while the RedHawks pounded the paint against the Lakers' defense. Indiana Northwest went on a 16-4 over a seven-minute stretch early in the first half to take a 20-8 lead midway through the half. The Lakers cut the lead down to nine in the latter parts of the first half, but never could string together enough stops or make enough shots to make a run at the RedHawks.

Indiana Northwest's biggest advantage was on the interior as it held the Lakers to just six points in the paint in the first half while scoring 20 points inside. The difference around the rim was a large reason the RedHawks shot nearly 56 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes and Roosevelt shot just 29 percent in the first half.

The second half was not much better for the Lakers' comeback hopes as they could not find the critical stop in crunch time. Indiana Northwest shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half, and made 4 of 10 from long range in the final 20 minutes to keep the Lakers at bay. Roosevelt did find more easy points in the second half and shot 53.3 percent from the field, but it was not able to close the deficit below six points until there was less than a minute left in the game.

Roosevelt's closest comeback attempt came with roughly seven minutes remaining in the second half. Maurice Commander knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to nine then the Lakers forced a turnover at the other end. It began a stretch of roughly two minutes when Roosevelt kept the RedHawks off the scoreboard, but only scored five points itself. Immediately after Shane Stevensen converted a floater in the lane to cut the deficit to seven, Indiana Northwest hit a 3-pointer, which became a theme every time the Lakers looked to be inching back into the game.

Commander finished with a game-best 29 points, 21 of which came in the second half as he tried to pull the Lakers back into the game. The graduate student made a layup with 57 seconds left to trim the deficit to five then Indiana Northwest missed a free throw at the other end. However, Yuri Swinford missed the open 3-pointer and the Lakers' luck ran out as Indiana Northwest hit free throws to salt away the game.

Stevensen finished with 12 points and Swinford had 10 points in an otherwise tough offensive effort for the Lakers. Chima Nwosu was his springy self and finished with eight points and eight rebounds on a perfect 4 for 4 shooting, but he missed all three free throws he took. The Lakers finished 12 of 20 from the free-throw line, slightly worse than Indiana Northwest that sank 13 of 20.

The 19 wins this season tie the 2018-19 Lakers and last year's team for the second-most in a single season in program history. Roosevelt's 10-4 mark at home is the second-best home winning percentage in school history behind the 2017-18 NAIA Tournament team that won 15 of 19 at the Goodman Center. Nwosu also set the program record for single-season shooting percentage (minimum 100 attempts) by making 75.5 percent of his shots this season.