CHICAGO – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team closed out the 2021 calendar year with an 81-61 non-conference victory over Madonna University (Mich.) on Friday, December 31 at the Goodman Center.  The win marked the third straight for the Lakers and raised their overall record to 11-4 on the year.

The Lakers jumped out to an 8-2 lead to start the game behind five points from Matt Myers and a three-pointer by Anthony Martinez, and the home team upped its lead to 16-6 with 14:17 to go in the half on a Trenton Kyler layup.  The Crusaders scored the next six points to cut the lead to 16-12 just over three minutes later, but the Lakers answered back with six points of their own off a Mark Johnson three-point play and an Eetu Villa three-pointer.  Roosevelt controlled things for the rest of the half, building a 14-point lead and taking a 46-33 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The second half was more of the same from the Lakers with Villa setting the tone with another trey for a 51-36 lead early in the period.  Roosevelt maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half, leading by as many as 27 points at 77-50 with just over three minutes to play and closeing out the game with a 20-point victory.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Madonna            33           28           61
                Roosevelt            46           35           81

Records: Roosevelt 11-4 | Madonna 10-7

Location: Goodman Center | Chicago, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Trenton Kyler scored a game-high 21 points to go with five assists & four steals
• Ayomide Ajiboye posted a double-double with 12 points & 11 rebounds
• Eetu Villa tallied 13 points & five rebounds
• Matt Myers added nine points & five rebounds
• Anthony Martinez also scored nine points
• The Lakers shot 44.6% from the field & 37.8% from behind the arc
• Madonna was 41.7% overall from the field & 21.1% from three-point range

NEWS & NOTES

• RU extended its winning streak to three games with the win
• Trenton Kyler has scored 21 points in each of his last three games
• The Lakers are now 3-5 versus the Crusaders in the all-time series

NEXT UP

The Lakers travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. on Sunday, January 2 to take on Aquinas University in another non-conference game, which will tip-off at 2pm at the Sturrus Center.