CHICAGO – A nail-biter ensued at the Shannon Center on Wednesday, as a 9-0 Roosevelt men's basketball team entered the home gym of Saint Xavier with the expectation for a difficult road game against a CCAC rival.
It proved to be a tightly-contested affair that saw the Lakers and the Cougars go punch for punch, but the guests in Green and White saw the longest winning streak to open a season in school history come to a close in overtime by a final of 78-77.
Jake Ludwig did everything he could to will the Lakers (9-1, 2-1 CCAC) to victory. The junior guard scored a career-high 32 points, logging 42 minutes and overcoming an uncharacteristic night of turnovers (six) by sending the game into OT by going coast-to-coast in four seconds to beat the buzzer in regulation with a contest-tying layup.
Carson Hughes and Adam Alexander added 11 points apiece.
Roosevelt trailed by 10 in the second half, but the Lakers stormed back with a 24-6 run to lead by eight with five minutes remaining.
Saint Xavier (6-4, 3-1 CCAC) chipped away and eventually tied the game on a pair of free throws made by Kyle Tackett with 43 seconds left.
Ludwig made one of two at the other end to give the Lakers a one-point edge, and on the next possession Tackett rebounded a miss by Quinn Niego and found Jack Brody near the left corner for a three with four seconds left that put SXU up 67-65 before Ludwig did his Road Runner impersonation to get the deadlocking layup as time expired.
Overtime followed the game's script as another closely-contested session, with Roosevelt clinging to a small lead throughout the extra period. Tackett made a game-tying layup with 34 seconds left in OT, and after a Roosevelt turnover on an offensive foul, Jaelon Wilson went to the line after Kyle Bumbalough was whistled for a foul.
Wilson missed the first but made the second after a Roosevelt timeout, and with about four ticks left on the game clock, Ludwig attempted to mimic his regulation-ending heroics by taking the inbounds and running almost the length of the court. This time he took a three to try and get a shot off before the horn, and the deep attempt rattled off the rim.
"We learned a lot tonight by taking Saint X to the wire on the road," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said after the game. "We had multiple chances to close it, but we couldn't hit the shot or grab the rebound. Jake really carried us with scoring, but we were really thin tonight due to foul trouble. One more play and we had them. Saint Xavier is as good an offensive team as there is, and we will be better in the long run after battling down to the last play."
The Lakers hit the road again for another south side tilt, heading down I-57 to take on Governors State in University Park.
