Commander Dazzles In Lakers Win Over No. 14 St. Thomas

JOLIET, Ill. – Roosevelt held its nerve in the final minutes to complete a 62-59 upset of No. 14 St. Thomas (Fla.) in Joliet on Sunday afternoon.

Maurice Commander broke a 51-51 deadlock with a jump shot with 5:10 remaining in the second half, and the Lakers (7-1) never trailed again. The graduate student came off a screen with 42 seconds left off an inbounds play to give Roosevelt its largest lead at 57-53, then made four straight free throws to keep the Lakers in front. Commander finished with 27 points to lead the Lakers to their first win over a ranked foe since Dec. 16, 2018.

Commander was a key reason the Lakers were able to keep pace with the Bobcats in the first half after scoring 14 points on four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. When St. Thomas took a five-point lead with five minutes left in the half, Commander sank a 3-pointer on Roosevelt's next possession. The Chicago native also hit a 3-pointer with a minute left in the half to bring the Lakers within two at intermission.

Julio Montes II was the only other Lakers player to finish in double figures with 16 points, including 10 in the second half. Cody Mitchell scored all seven of his points in the second half then added nine rebounds to lead Roosevelt on the glass. Sangolay Njie added six rebounds and capped off the game with a free throw to keep the Lakers advantage at three in the final seconds.

Neither team were able to pull away from the other as the largest lead from either team was five points. The lead changed hands 12 times, they were tied on eight occasions, and St. Thomas held a slight 39-38 edge on the boards. A key difference in Roosevelt's favor was its 19 points off St. Thomas' 16 turnovers.

Roosevelt heads back into Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action Wednesday night against Governors State in University Park with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.