CHAMPIONS! Lakers Clinch Crown In Dominant Fashion

CHICAGO – For the first time in program history, the Roosevelt Lakers are men's basketball champions of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference after the 11^th-ranked Lakers defeated second-place Indiana South Bend on Saturday afternoon at the Goodman Center.

The 78-65 decision was rarely in doubt after Roosevelt (22-3, 17-1 CCAC) sprinted out to a 7-0 lead after 90 seconds. The advantage grew to 14-2 a little more than five minutes into the contest and the Lakers never looked back to capture the first conference title in the program's history. Roosevelt has now punched its ticket to its second NAIA Tournament and secured the top seed in the upcoming CCAC Tournament.

Roosevelt's ability to turn defense into offense was again on display as the Lakers scored 24 points off 18 takeaways. The Titans were just 1 of 8 from behind the arc in the first half while the Lakers shot an even 50 percent from the field and made a third of their 3-pointers. Forte Prater came off the bench to score 11 of his 18 points in the first half, making 5 of 7 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

Maurice Commander and Julio Montes II both did their part offensively as well both on and off the ball. Commander came up big with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including a pair of big shots in the second half. Montes scored 18 points and dished out five assists without committing any turnovers. Cody Mitchell did his part by grabbing seven rebounds while helping to limit Dejon Barney to just seven rebounds, and Malcolm Townsel added six rebounds of his own.

After the initial spurt, the Lakers were ahead by at least six points for the rest of the first half as they continued to frustrate Indiana South Bend. The Titans went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the second half to cut the deficit to five, but in less than a minute, Roosevelt responded with eight straight points. Montes drained a 3-pointer, Kani Acree stole a pass and outleted to Sangolay Njie for a dunk then Forte Prater picked up a steal and found Acree for a 3-pointer.

Every time the Titans would battle to within single digits for the rest of the half, the Lakers would find a shot to push the lead back into double figures. Prater responded to Indiana South Bend pulling within six points by knocking down a 3. Mitchell made a layup after the Titans trimmed the deficit to eight and Montes converted a three-point play the final time the advantage dropped below 10.

The Lakers still have two more regular-season contests before it begins the conference tournament at the end of the month. Roosevelt will travel to Elgin on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to face Judson in its next contest.