UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. – The 20th-ranked Roosevelt men's basketball team rallied back from a double-digit deficit to get within five of 16th-ranked Governors State late in the 2018 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Men's Basketball Tournament Championship final, but the second-seeded Lakers couldn't get any closer against the top-seeded Jaguars in a 78-68 loss at the GSU ARC on Monday night.
The Lakers (26-7) now turn their attention to the 2018 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II Men's Basketball National Championship that begins next week. Roosevelt earned the CCAC's automatic tournament bid by advancing to the CCAC Tournament final with Governors State (25-8) already garnering the automatic berth by way of the CCAC regular season title already in their possession.
Amidst an electric crowd that featured a jam-packed gym full of both GSU and Roosevelt fans, the two teams battled nerves early and went tooth-and-nail in a battle for the league tourney crown.
Governors State was able to take control behind Jalen Miller (22 points), and Roosevelt's leading scorer Jake Ludwig plagued by early foul trouble.
The Jaguars grew their lead at the start of the second half, but the Lakers would not go away and had a late run left in them, getting to within five with 2:57 on the clock after Ludwig sank a pair of free throws.
But Governors State kept Roosevelt from getting any closer, clinching the league double.
Ludwig scored 10 and Adam Alexander matched that total. Four other Lakers tallied nine points apiece.
"I'd like to thank our great fans who filled up the buses to come cheer us on," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said of the Roosevelt student turnout. "It gave our team a great spark and it speaks to the togetherness of our department.
"We thought we were right there at the end, but we simply couldn't make enough plays on either side to pull it out," Griffin continued. "'I thought that's the best GSU has looked in a long time and they gave us their best shot tonight. We had a few mental breakdowns, but overall they just hit tough, contested shots. Our effort and desire was there, but we didn't play our best."
Griffin knows there is still more work to be done for his Lakers as they keep a record-setting season going.
"We still have a chance to win a national championship and we will use this loss as a lesson to improve on," Griffin said. "We are excited to find out our seed and who we play in the tournament on Wednesday."
Roosevelt will host an NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship Selection Show Watch Party to find out the team's seeding and matchup this Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. Central in Wabash Building 1111 for all members of the Roosevelt University community to attend.
