Notre Dame, Ind. – Jeremiah Jackson led six Roosevelt scorers in double figures with 20 points, and the Lakers relied on efficient offense and hot shooting from beyond the arc to defeat Holy Cross, 101-82, at McKenna Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Joe Harks scored 15, Tyree York dished out 10 assists and Jason Sotira came off the bench to go 4-for-5 from downtown to pace a balanced attack for the visiting Lakers (2-3, 1-3 CCAC).
Yama Kader led all scorers with 21 for the Saints (3-3, 2-2 CCAC).
Roosevelt hit 11 of its 15 attempts from three-point range in scoring a season-high 101 points.
The Lakers broke a three-game slide by getting out to a fast start, something they haven't been able to do in the last few games. Roosevelt rattled off an early 7-0 run and broke open the game with balanced scoring to lead by as much as 15 in the first half.
Holy Cross would chip away early in the second half and get to within seven on Zoe Bauer's three, but Sotira answered with back-to-back treys to spur an 11-0 run that put Roosevelt up by 18.
The Lakers would go up by as many as 31 points thanks to their hot shooting, finishing the game hitting 66 percent (37-for-56) of their attempts from the floor.
Jackson was strong inside, hitting five of his seven shots and going to the line 12 times to score half of his output from the charity stripe.
Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin was pleased with the win, but the third-year leader of the Lakers noted some aspects of his team's performance that need to be addressed going forward.
"We're happy to get that first conference win," said Griffin. "Any time you can get a win on the road, especially this early in the conference season, is huge. But we have some serious defensive issues to fix.
"We're happy with the win, but we still have a long way to go."
Griffin liked the overall team effort and applauded the play of his point guard.
"Guys did what they needed to do today," said Griffin. "Our shooters hit shots, our big men rebounded. Tyree did a great job running the team and weaving through the different defenses they threw at us."
The Lakers return to Chicago to host Indiana University South Bend this Tuesday, Nov. 20 inside the UIC Physical Education Building at 7:30 p.m.
