Roosevelt Overcomes Slow Start In Rout Of St. Ambrose

CHICAGO – Roosevelt dominated the final 30 minutes of action to cruise past St. Ambrose 84-71 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action Wednesday night at the Goodman Center.

The 20^th-ranked Lakers (13-2, 7-0 CCAC) surrendered 13 of the first 15 points in the game and fell behind by 14 points at the midway point of the first half. Yet they remained undeterred and went on a quick 12-2 spurt over the next three minutes. It took another six minutes for Roosevelt to finally catch the Fighting Bees, but Maurice Commander's 3-pointer with 1:43 left in the half gave the Lakers the lead for good.

Commander was a perfect 4 for 4 from behind the arc in the opening half to drop 14 points as he continued to energize the crowd with his big shots. He continued to be a scoring machine in the second half with 10 more points to finish with 24 total, missing his only 3-pointer of the game with five minutes left. His 6 for 7 performance from behind the arc tied the Roosevelt record for best 3-point shooting percentage in a game with a minimum of five attempts.  

The long ball was not working as well for Julio Montes II, but the sophomore guard did score 22 points in the game by attacking the rim. He was just 1 of 6 behind the arc, but Montes made nine of his 16 shots from inside the arc. His aggressive nature helped the Lakers score 26 points in the paint in the second half, equalizing the advantage St. Ambrose had early on the interior.

Forte Prater chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds while Cody Mitchell grabbed seven boards to lead Roosevelt's effort on the glass. David Swedura added eight points in the victory with an old-fashioned three-point play and sinking all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to help spark the Lakers offense. Shane Stevensen did the same with his two buckets in the second half after earning his first start of the season.

Those three free throws from Swedura gave Roosevelt its first double-digit lead and the confidence it needed to close out St. Ambrose. Even after the Fighting Bees fought back to within six in the final five minutes, the Roosevelt defense stood tall and helped turn rebounds into points at the other end to build the lead to the game-high 15 at which it ended.

Roosevelt will try to stay alone atop the CCAC standings Saturday when it welcomes St. Francis (Ill.) for a 3 p.m. tipoff at the Goodman Center.