Slow Start Stings Lakers Against Fighting Bees

CHICAGO – Roosevelt's pressure-filled rally ran out of time Saturday as the Lakers fell 85-74 to St. Ambrose at the Goodman Center in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle.

A combination of unlucky bounces for the Lakers (6-10, 4-7 CCAC) and missed defensive assignments allowed the Fighting Bees to take a commanding lead early in the game. St. Ambrose scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to stretch its lead to 18 points and the Fighting Bees didn't relent to lead by 24 at the break. Roosevelt's deficit grew to as many as 29 before the Lakers started to apply pressure on the Fighting Bees. The Lakers made wholesale changes with 7:24 left in the third quarter, then proceeded to outscore St. Ambrose 56-38 after that point.

Although it didn't slow down the Fighting Bees initially, Roosevelt's press eventually took control of the game. The Lakers trailed 55-18 with 5:22 left in the third quarter before the game was turned on its head. Roosevelt created 15 second-half turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter, and the deficit started to shrink in a hurry. The Lakers scored 17 points off St. Ambrose's turnovers in the second half and added eight second-chance points as well.

Roosevelt made 13 of its 19 shots in the fourth quarter as the 31-point deficit after 30 minutes was reduced to 14 with 3:25 left and 10 inside the final minute. The Lakers scored a program-record 43 points in the fourth quarter while limiting the Fighting Bees to just 4 of 13 shooting, forcing them to score most of their points at the free-throw stripe.

Jayla Turchin led the charge at both ends for the Lakers with 17 points and four steals with 15 of those points coming in the fourth quarter. Amelia McNutt scored 12 of her 14 points as part of the fourth quarter rally and also added six rebounds in the game. Erionna Moore led the Lakers with seven boards, although Roosevelt lost the rebounding battle as a team 45-31.

The first half was mostly forgettable for the Lakers as they connected on just seven baskets, including just 1 of 14 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Fighting Bees made half of their attempts in the first half as they built out a massive lead. St. Ambrose then made 10 of 15 from the field in the third quarter, but six of those makes came in the opening five minutes of the quarter.

The Lakers finished the game shooting 39.4 percent from the field and just 26 percent from behind the arc. The Fighting Bees finished an even 50 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.

Roosevelt returns to the court Wednesday in Bourbonnais against Olivet Nazarene for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.