JOLIET, Ill. – Jake Ludwig scored the Roosevelt's men's basketball team's first 15 points and tallied 21 by time the halftime horn sounded, pacing the Lakers to their single-season school-record 20th victory by way of a 71-53 road win at St. Francis (Ill.) inside the Sullivan Center on Saturday.
Ludwig finished with 24 points, handing out seven assists in the process, to lead the Lakers, who extended their regular season winning streak to eight games and improved to 20-4 while moving to 11-3 in the CCAC.
Carson Hughes added 11, draining three three-pointers in the second half, and Kevin Day duplicated Hughes' trey day en route to nine points.
Iain Morrison led all players with 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Fighting Saints (8-15, 5-9 CCAC).
The story was Ludwig-centric in the first half, as the standout junior guard was unstoppable early. He hit three three-pointers to score the Green and White's first 15 points and put the Lakers ahead by eight. Ludwig tallied 19 of Roosevelt's first 22 points, and the Lakers' lead eventually ballooned to 19.
While Ludwig's dominating first-half scoring pace cooled after intermission, he helped facilitate the offense with his passing and assists, posting six dimes in the second half, and saw his teammates pick up the point load to keep the Saints at bay.
Roosevelt led by as many as 25 points in the second half, with Hughes scoring all 11 of his points in that period, and St. Francis could only cut the Lakers' lead down to 15 late.
The Lakers continued to play their excellent brand of basketball and keep league-leading Governors State in their sights as those two sides approach a big Feb. 10 date inside the Goodman Center.
That brand of Roosevelt basketball also included disciplined defense, which overcame the 6-foot-9 Morrison's big inside game (10-for-15) by forcing the rest of the USF roster to shoot 8-for-33 (24 percent) from the field for the game. The Saints were held to 5-for-22 shooting (22.7 percent) in the opening period and just a 3-of-13 final showing from the three-point arc, and Roosevelt scored 29 of its points off 18 USF turnovers.
"Our guys played with tremendous energy and togetherness from start to finish," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said after the win. "The name of the game was our defense, which was very good despite Morrison, who was outstanding, really taking it to us. We shared the ball and hit enough threes to keep the lead out of reach for most of the game.
"As usual everyone chipped in and scored, and even though Josh [Dillingham] didn't score, his rebounding [five in 15 minutes off the bench] and taking charges kept us fired up.
"Hopefully we can continue the road wins Wednesday."
The Lakers, who have won six straight on the road, head to the Quad Cities to tangle with St. Ambrose at Lee Lohman Arena in Davenport, Iowa this Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
