CHICAGO – The 20th-ranked Roosevelt men's basketball team defeated Saint Xavier, 85-72, in a 2018 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament semifinal at the Goodman Center in front of an electric crowd on Friday night, advancing to its first-ever CCAC tournament title game and clinching the Lakers' first-ever trip to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II Men's Basketball National Championship in the process.
The Lakers (26-6) earned their first national postseason trip by way of their win and Governors State's semfinal win over Holy Cross in University Park. Because Governors State won the CCAC's regular season championship and the NAIA automatic bid that comes with it, the automatic bid for the CCAC tournament champion would go to the other tournament finalist if Governors State made the finals as well.
That was the case on Friday, and Roosevelt earned the berth by leading for nearly the entire game and shooting 55 percent (33-for-60) from the floor.
Carson Hughes led the Lakers with 16 points off the bench thanks to four made treys, while Jake Ludwig scored 13 and handed out 11 assists.
Joshua Dillingham was big with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds that were matched by Adam Alexander, who scored 11 points.
Quinn Niego led the Cougars (19-13) with a game-high 23 points, and Saint Xavier cut a 23-point second-half deficit down to eight before back-to-back Dillingham baskets cooled down the rally and kept the Lakers in front the rest of the way.
"This has been a long time in the making," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said after the historic win for his program, which was revived in 2010-11. "When we found out that GSU won, the feeling that we shared was indescribable. What stood out to me, like on Wednesday, was how engaged our crowd, student section, and alumni were. This was a great college basketball atmosphere and I'm so thankful to be a part of it.
"Saint Xavier gave us a heck of comeback and really sped us up at the end, but our energy and lead was too much to overcome," Griffin said. "The performance of our entire team was incredible, with everyone scoring at least three points and everyone contributing to this win. Our assistants did a great job with the scout and we really defended them."
Griffin knows that the deed is not done, as his team seeks to add another first to its list of 2017-18 accomplishments on Monday.
"We are so excited to have a chance to win the conference tournament and improve our seeding in the national tournament," said Griffin, who has built his team from a 5-22 squad during its 2010-11 debut to a 26-6 force preparing for its first national tournament seven years later.
