CHICAGO – When his team needed him the most, Jake Ludwig was at his best.
The senior guard scored 24 of his career-high-tying 32 points in the second half, connecting on five big three-pointers late, to become Roosevelt University's all-time leading scorer and rally the Lakers back from a 20-point deficit to defeat 14th-ranked Bellevue (Neb.), 63-59, inside the Goodman Center to cap the first day of the Roosevelt Classic on Friday night.
Roosevelt (3-3) received a big second-half performance from another senior guard as Kyle Bumbalough complemented Ludwig's showing by scoring all 12 of his points in the second half.
Josh Meier led the nationally-ranked Bruins (3-5) with 15 points.
Ludwig entered the game needing just 18 points to eclipse Joe Harks' previous career scoring record of 1,576, and the St. Charles product nearly doubled that output to finish the night with 1,591 career points in a Green and White uniform to claim the Roosevelt career scoring mark just six games into his senior season.
The Lakers struggled from the floor early, falling behind 14-4 and seeing the deficit climb to 20 as they made just five of 22 attempts from the field and missed all nine of their three-point attempts during a tough first half.
Roosevelt went to work after the break as Ludwig led the charge. The Lakers chipped away to bring the deficit down to single digits with a little more than seven minutes to play, and Ludwig sandwiched back-to-back treys made by Bumbalough with a pair of three-pointers of his own during an RU four-peat from downtown.
Ludwig made another three at the 5:38 mark and was fouled while shooting another from behind the arc moments later to get three free throws he sank to cut the Lakers' deficit down to three.
Bellevue nursed a four-point advantage with a little more than a minute remaining in regulation when Ludwig made a three that cut the Bruins' lead down to a single point.
After a missed jumper by Bellevue's Sequan Walker, Ludwig showed ice water in his veins with another clutch three with 27 seconds on the clock to put the Lakers up two.
After Bennett Fuzak, who assisted Ludwig's go-ahead three-ball and made a variety of big plays late, blocked a Walker shot on the other end, Ludwig grabbed the rebound and was fouled to go to the line and calmly make a pair of shots to make it a four-point game and allow the Lakers to complete the rally.
"With a game like this, the thing that resonates above all is simply how proud I am of this team with their performance tonight," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said after the big comeback win. "Being down 20 and not hitting shots and turning it over like we did [11 times in the first half], it could have been a long night. But like this group tends to do, we chipped away and kept fighting and our defense really bailed us out tonight. Holding them to 59 points when they average 83 and holding them to three made threes when they average 12 made threes is a testament to our commitment to defense. We talked about how this had to be our best defensive effort to win, and the guys took it and ran with it."
Griffin applauded the big showings of his senior backcourt.
"Kyle may have played the best game he's ever played here on both sides of the ball, and it was fitting for Ludwig to put on an All-American performance while becoming our all-time scoring leader in the same game," Griffin said. "His shots were big time.
"We need to make this top-15 win stand up by coming back tomorrow versus a much-improved East-West team."
In other Roosevelt classic action, St. Francis (Ill.) defeated East-West, 90-78.
Roosevelt concludes the Roosevelt Classic on Saturday at 5 p.m. against the Phantoms of East-West. Prior to the Lakers' game, St. Francis will tangle with Bellevue at 3 p.m.
