CHICAGO – The Roosevelt Lakers scored a season-high 93 points on Tuesday night to defeat the visiting Indiana Northwest RedHawks, 93-80.
After going back and forth in the first half and going to the locker room down two, the Lakers set the tone in the second on the defensive end to pull over from the visiting RedHawks. In the game, Roosevelt forced IU Northwest into 19 turnovers and have now forced 47 on the young season.
"We did a great job closing down the stretch, but it would have been an even tougher test if they had their leading scorer Rashad Richardson in there," said Lakers Head Coach Joe Griffin. "Give them credit, they had a lot of other guys step up in his absence and really took it to us in the first 30:00."
The Lakers (3-0) were led once again on offense by junior guard Jake Ludwig. The St. Charles, Ill. native came in averaging 21 points a night and he poured in 31 more tonight on 10-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the line.
Senior big man Joshua Dillingham had another monster day for Roosevelt. He recorded his second consecutive double-double as he pulled down a game-high 12 boards and added 23 points.
Newcomer Grant Gibson had his best game in a Roosevelt uniform as he finished with 10 points and three assists.
"Our experience really prevailed in the end with Josh scoring and rebounding and Ludwig scoring and dishing," added Griffin. "It was good to see Grant get going a little bit and Carson [Hughes] and Kyle [Bumbalough] gave us a great boost as they have been doing.
"We have to take better care of the ball and get our turnovers down, as well as rebound a lot better if we expect to keep winning these games."
Indiana Northwest (2-2) had four players finish in double-figures led by 14 off the bench from Canaan Cooper. Tyiwan Jones added 13 off the bench and Chris Dixon-Williams added 12.
Roosevelt returns to the hardwood on Friday night for a non-conference tilt with the Aquinas (Mich.) Saints. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Goodman Center.
For additional information on Roosevelt University athletics, visit the website at www.rooseveltlakers.com.
Quick Hits
--Junior big man Chandler Fuzak went down with an injury two minutes into the game and didn't return
--The RedHawks bench outscored the Lakers bench 57-24
--Roosevelt shot 12-for-16 from the free throw line; IU Northwest was 18-for-20
--Ludwig led the Lakers with six assists in the game; the team recorded 26
