CHICAGO – Grant Gibson and Bennett Fuzak tallied 20 points apiece to lead five Lakers in double figures, and the Roosevelt men's basketball team won its fourth consecutive game in defeating Wabash Avenue neighbor East-West (Ill.), 90-71, to conclude the 2018 Roosevelt Classic inside the Goodman Center on Saturday evening.
Gibson added eight rebounds and five assists while connecting on four of five three-point attempts, and Fuzak corralled seven boards while going a perfect 4-for-4 from downtown and hitting 8-of-9 free throw shots for the Lakers (4-3), who shot 53 percent from the floor and 50 percent (10-for-20) from beyond the arc.
DeAnte Barnes had 12 points and four blocks, Jake Ludwig scored 11 points while handing out eight assists to facilitate the offense, and Chandler Fuzak added 10 points.
Naija Chandler led all scorers with 23 points for the Phantoms (0-14), who were within two points of the Lakers with seven minutes to play when Roosevelt used an 8-0 run to go up by double figures and make it a double-digit advantage for four minutes.
East-West got within five on a three made by Allen Morris with 1:12 on the clock, but that is as close as the guests would get as the Lakers kept the Phantoms at bay.
"This game was much closer than what the final score ended at," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said. "East-West outplayed us in many ways, especially with their penetration, transition offense, and their post play. Defensively they sped us up and turned us over and exposed a lot of areas of improvement for us. Luckily Grant and Bennett came up big with their scoring and rebounding, and Lud was great in handling the rock with eight assists to one turnover.
"What won the game for us was the foul disparity and our 17-point margin at the free throw line," Griffin said. "We will have to play better if we want to beat Olivet in the opener."
St. Francis (Ill.) rallied to defeat No. 14 Bellevue, 83-80, in the day's opening game of the Roosevelt Classic.
Roosevelt hosts Olivet Nazarene this Tuesday, Nov. 20 in the Lakers' CCAC opener at 7:30 p.m. inside the Goodman Center.
