CHICAGO – The Roosevelt men's basketball team almost forced overtime despite a red-hot Governors State squad shooting the lights out from downtown, but the Lakers' last-second game-tying three-point shot came up short in a 97-94 loss inside the Goodman Center on Saturday.
Korey Ryan led five Lakers in double figures with 24 points, canning five three-pointers but missing just his second trey of the day with his game-tying attempt in the closing seconds for the Lakers (9-13, 5-8 CCAC).
Jake Ludwig had another strong game with 18 points and eight assists, while Joshua Dillingham was an interior force with 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting and 13 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the season.
Peter Catchings reached his Roosevelt career best with 14 points in a starting role, while Adam Alexander came off the bench to provide 12 points.
Dalvin Echols also made a big difference off the bench, but his 30-point performance on 7-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc was what spurred the Jaguars (8-14, 5-8 CCAC) to shoot an eye-popping 77 percent (20-for-26) from three-point range.
Jalen Miller added 26 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting, with five Jaguars connecting on at least two treys and scoring in double figures.
"Give GSU a ton of credit," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said after the game. I don't remember ever seeing a shooting performance like that. Some teams can't even hit 20 of 26 free throws in a game, let alone threes. This was a true shootout the whole way and that is a hard style for our team to play in. However, we still had a chance to tie it at the end. Our transition defense was not very good and that got them some easy baskets as well. We limited [Torrey] Oliver, but to their credit, their supporting cast really stepped up with Echols going 7-for-7 from three for 30 points, and we did not game plan for that obviously."
Governors State took a lead on early hot shooting, but the Jaguars cooled a bit and the Lakers made a run that put them into a five-point advantage at intermission.
The Jaguars heated up again from long distance in the second half, erasing a six-point deficit and eventually going up 10 after a 31-15 run and 8-for-9 three-point shooting in an eight-minute span.
Roosevelt kept chipping away despite a brief scare when Dillingham went down with an injury, but the junior forward returned the game and the Lakers got within one with just under five ticks left on a Jake Asquini three.
The Lakers fouled to put the Jaguars on the line, where Miller made a pair to make it a three-point game with four seconds remaining.
Ryan got the ball with under two ticks on the clock and fired a desperation shot from deep, but the ball fell short along with Rooosevelt's valiant comeback in an exciting game.
"Next week will be tough with road games all week, so we are going to have to get two on the road to stay within reach of a good seed in the conference tourney," Griffin said.
Roosevelt heads to Davenport, Iowa to tangle with St. Ambrose on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
