Lakers Lock Down Saints To Remain Atop CCAC

CHICAGO – Roosevelt's defense stole the show to help the Lakers remain unbeaten in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action Sunday afternoon with a 62-55 win over St. Francis at the Goodman Center.

The 20^th-ranked Lakers (14-2, 8-0 CCAC) held the Fighting Saints to just 18 points on 21 percent shooting in the opening half to take a nine-point lead into the locker room. The lead fluctuated as much as 13 points but also didn't drop below six points until the final seconds of the game when St. Francis hit a desperation 3-pointer.

Roosevelt found its advantage on the interior with Cody Mitchell and Sangolay Njie crashing the glass hard. Mitchell finished with 10 rebounds and fell one point shy of a double-double while Njie had nine boards. David Swedura managed to grab seven rebounds from his spot at guard and Forte Prater secured four big rebounds, three of which came in the second half.

Prater led the Lakers in scoring with 17 points and was the most consistent shooter Roosevelt had at 6 of 13 from the field. Maurice Commander scored 10 points with several big shots and Kani Acree added eight points. Acree's two field goals were both 3-pointers, nailing one to give Roosevelt a 12-point lead late in the first half then adding a second one to push the lead back into double digits late in the second half.

The 8-0 conference record continues to extend the program's best start to league play and also extends out Roosevelt's best start to a season.

The Lakers return to action Thursday in Gary, Ind. at 7:30 p.m. against Indiana Northwest after the contest was postponed one day due to the extreme cold moving into the area.