CHICAGO – The Roosevelt men's basketball team's Senior Night was spoiled by Cardinal Stritch's hot shooting in an 89-70 loss for the Lakers at the Goodman Center on Wednesday night.
Roosevelt celebrated the careers of seniors Jake Ludwig, Kyle Bumbalough, Kevin Day, Jake Asquini, Chandler Fuzak and Grant Gibson prior to Wednesday's game. The six have achieved some of the program's grandest feats, particularly in the last two seasons as school records, Top 25 rankings, CCAC victories and finishes, and the first NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship berth have highlighted the group's success.
Asquini led the Lakers (17-12, 11-8 CCAC) with 17 points, while Bennett Fuzak added 11 points. Chandler Fuzak, Day and Bumbalough added eight points each.
Nemanja Knezevic led all scorers with 35 points and nine rebounds, while Carlos Knox added 18 points and Frederik Benzon had a double-double of 11 points and 14 assists for the Wolves (15-12, 9-10 CCAC). The guests finished 31-for-46 (67 percent) from the floor and 8-for-11 from beyond the arc to complete an efficient performance, while host Roosevelt was unable to keep up despite taking 21 more shot attempts.
Stritch seemingly couldn't miss in the first half, shooting a 70 percent (18-for-26) clip as Knezevic went 7-for-10 in the opening 20 minutes to tally 18 first-period points. CSU took a 14-point advantage into the break.
The Wolves carried their hot shooting into the second stanza, as they made five of their first six attempts and eventually built a 24-point lead early in the half and a margin as high as 25 at the 6:42 mark.
The Lakers were not as fortunate from the field, connecting at 37 percent for the night.
Roosevelt would not go away, chipping away behind the three-ball from Asquini as the senior guard made four of his five treys in the second half and helped the Lakers get their deficit down to 15 with three minutes left.
But Stritch continued to make shots and keep the Lakers at bay, with not enough time left to mount a significant rally.
"We got our butts beat from start to finish," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said. "We couldn't guard Knezevic or Knox and they simply took it to us the whole game. Couple that with cold shooting and you get a big loss at home.
"I'm excited to see how we bounce back Saturday."
The Lakers head to Palos Heights this Saturday to take on Trinity Christian in the regular-season finale at 3 p.m. Roosevelt will learn its seeding in the CCAC Tournament after that contest and other matchups around the league.
