CHICAGO – In a battle between CCAC division leaders, it was the South's St. Francis that got off to a fast start and led the entire way against North co-leader Roosevelt in a 93-78 decision for the visiting Saints at the Goodman Center on Saturday.
Four Lakers reached double figures, as Kevin Priebe led the way with 23 off the bench while Tyree York scored 20 and handed out nine assists for the Lakers (11-6, 5-2 CCAC).
Jeremiah Jackson tallied 14 while Joe Harks scored 10.
Ilya Ilyayev led all scorers with 32 points for the Fighting Saints, who remained unbeaten in conference play at 7-0 and improved to 13-5 overall.
St. Francis jumped out to a 6-0 lead on back-to-back three-pointers made by Edvinas Presniakovas, and the guests never looked back as they built a 13-point lead less than seven minutes in.
Roosevelt would claw back from an 18-point deficit to get within six with nine minutes remaining in regulation, but USF answered back with a 7-0 spurt to go back up double digits and keep that advantage for most of the game.
The Saints shot well over 50 percent from the field and three-point territory for the game, while the Lakers struggled from long range with a 17-percent clip.
"We got beat from start to finish by a very, very good St. Francis team," said Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin. "We can see why they are 7-0 in the league. They shot it great from everywhere, 25-for-27 at the line, and nailed 10 threes. We were holding teams to 42 percent, but they lit us up for 57 percent. They played great.
"Our offense sputtered the whole night, even though we only turned it over nine times," Griffin continued. "But the story of the game was their offense, which our defense just couldn't figure out. Even when we did figure it out, they were killing us in the post and from three. I liked that we competed to the horn after being down early in the second half, and I think we cut it to eight a couple of times, but they earned the win.
"We hope to respond well this week and get back on the winning track."
Griffin's Lakers return to the court this Wednesday, Jan. 14, when Roosevelt heads to Hammond to take on Purdue Calumet at 7 p.m.
