Lakers Drop Heartbreaker In CCAC Semifinals

CHICAGO – Roosevelt's chance at sweeping the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference titles ended in heartbreaking fashion Friday night at the Goodman Center.

The 11^th-ranked Lakers (25-4) led for much of the night, but fourth-seeded Indiana South Bend nipped No. 1 Roosevelt 72-70 in the semifinals. The Lakers, winners of one of the two CCAC auto-bids as regular-season champions, now await their destination and opponent for the second trip to the NAIA Tournament history. The selection show will be broadcast at 6 p.m. on March 7 with the first round matchup slated for March 15.

With a potent offense at its disposal, Roosevelt made a slow start quickly disappear as the good looks started to fall in bunches. After starting the game 1 of 8 from 3-point range, the Lakers trailed 13-10 midway through the first half. Over the next three minutes, Roosevelt made 6 of 7 from the field to take an 11-point lead on Kani Acree's 3-pointer. The Lakers closed the half by making five of their last seven attempts from behind the arc.

The Lakers maintained that double-digit advantage until 11:46 remained in the game and didn't relinquish the lead until 1:23 remained. Even then, the Titans' one-point advantage was quickly erased by Sangolay Njie's corner 3-pointer just 25 seconds later. Roosevelt then had two chances to win the game in the final minute, but Forte Prater's final shot hit the rim and bounced away.

The loss spoiled a career night for Acree, who shined through foul trouble to collect the first double-double of his collegiate career. The Ball State transfer tied his career high with 13 points in the first half then smashed it by adding six more in the second half to finish with 19. He also secured 13 rebounds while battling the conference's leading rebounder much of the night.

Prater scored 10 first-half points with eight of those points coming during the 16-2 run that blew the game open. The junior guard made a layup to give Roosevelt a 14-13 lead then alternated 3-pointers with Acree to help the Lakers lead by 13 points at the break. Julio Montes II started the second half by knocking down a long 3-pointer as the shot clock expired and finished with 13 points in the contest. Prater ended with 14 points and seven assists.