CHICAGO – Lucas Jordan hit a game-tying three-pointer to send the Roosevelt men's basketball team's game against Indiana South Bend into overtime, and a closely-contested extra session went the way of the visiting Titans in the final seconds to send the Lakers to a 70-67 loss at the Goodman Center on Wednesday night.
Jordan was one of three freshmen to shine for the Lakers (7-18, 7-10 CCAC) on this night, as the rookie from Albuquerque scored 18 points off the bench on 5-for-11 shooting from downtown.
Fellow freshman Josh Redic scored a team-leading 19 points, connecting four times from beyond the arc, while first-year frontcourt man Andrew Veon had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
Matt Myers scored 13 points, including two on a thunderous driving dunk in the second half.
Miles Tracy led all players with 23 points for the Titans (18-8, 12-6 CCAC), who led in the late stages of regulation after the two sides were never separated by more than eight points throughout the contest.
After IUSB went up three with 26 seconds left in the second half, the Lakers came out of a timeout and eventually found Jordan in the left corner for a three-point try that the first-year phenom calmly connected on with six seconds left on the clock.
Roosevelt held firm on the other end after Indiana South Bend had a chance to win the game with 2.8 seconds left, but the guests fell short on a shot attempt to elicit extra time.
In OT, the Titans led by two with a minute left when Redic went in for a hoop while he was harmed to finish a three-point play that put RU up 67-66 with 45.3 seconds remaining.
IUSB responded with an and-one opportunity of its own when Tracy made the go-ahead bucket while he was fouled with 32 seconds left. Tracy missed the free throw, giving Roosevelt a prime chance to go up again on the other end in OT's waning moments.
Unfortunately the Lakers turned the ball over with 11.7 on the clock, and after some keep-away efforts by IUSB to get the ball over the halfcourt line, Kourtlandt Martin was fouled and made his two at the charity stripe for a three-point lead with 0.6 on the clock.
The Lakers had no time to get a good look, and time expired despite another valiant effort.
"It's amazing we even took them to OT with our turnovers," Roosevelt head coach Joe Griffin said, referring to his team's 23 giveaways. "I am flat-out embarrassed by our disrespect for valuing the ball, and it obviously starts with me, so we are going to continue to explore ways to minimize our turnovers. I thought we had it corrected and minimized, but evidently we do not.
"Our defense was darn good and that's the only reason that we were able to hang in with one of the best teams in the CCAC this year," Griffin concluded.
Roosevelt welcomes Trinity International to the Goodman Center this Saturday at 3 p.m. The Lakers welcome back alumni for Alumni Day.
