PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Roosevelt University men's basketball team lost a CCAC Conference heartbreaker to Trinity Christian College by the score of 61-60 on Saturday, January 29 at DeVos Gymnasium.  The loss dropped the Lakers overall record to 15-8 and their conference record to 10-6 this season.

The Lakers jumped out to a 12-4 advantage to begin the game and later led 20-13 with 7:33 left after two free throws by Caleb Brown.  The Trolls came back with the next seven points to tie things up at 20-20 with just over five minutes to play, but Brown scored on a layup and Trenton Kyler knocked down a three to give RU a 25-21 advantage.  Trinity Christian answered to take a 26-25 lead, but layups from Mark Johnson and Brown gave Roosevelt a 29-27 half-time lead.

Roosevelt opened the second half with a 12-2 run to up its lead to 41-29 with 15:46 remaining.  However, the Trolls then went on a 10-0 run to pull to within 41-39 with 13:33 to go, but Jordan Lucas connected on a three to end the run and make it a 44-39 contest. 

Trinity Christian came back to tie the game at 48-48 with just over ten minutes left to play and then took a 50-48 lead with 8:46 on the clock.  The two teams were tied again at 50-50 after another two points from Brown, but the Trolls went ahead again and led 53-50 with just under seven minutes to go. 

With 3:30 left to play, Brown hit two free throws to put RU out front at 56-55, but Trinity Christian answered with the next six points to build a 61-56 lead with 1:23 to go.  The Lakers pulled to within 61-60 with 17 seconds remaining after a Kyler layup and two free throws from Ayomide Ajiboye.  Matt Myers then came up with a steal for the Lakers with six seconds left, but a layup and then a tip-in attempt would not fall for the visitors, resulting in the 61-60 conference loss.

GAME DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt                            29           31           60
                Trinity Christian                27           34           61

Records: Roosevelt 15-8, 10-6 (CCAC) | Trinity Christian 10-13, 6-10 (CCAC)

Location: DeVos Gymnasium | Palos Heights, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Caleb Brown registered a double-double with 15 points & 14 rebounds
• Matt Myers scored nine points to go with four rebounds
• Andrew Veon also had nine points & four rebounds
• Trenton Kyler added nine points
• The Lakers shot just 33.9% from the field & 26.9% from behind the arc
• The Trolls shot 38.6% overall & 20% from three-point range
• RU held a 49 to 42 rebound advantage over the Trolls
• TCC went 13 of 24 from the free throw line, while RU was 11 of 15

NEWS & NOTES

• RU is now 10-7 in the all-time series versus TCC
• The Lakers fell to fourth place in the CCAC & trail Indiana Northwest by one game for third place
• Click here to view the current CCAC Conference standings

NEXT UP

The Lakers travel to Joliet, Ill. on Wednesday, February 2 to take on the University of St. Francis in a CCAC Conference match up.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30pm at the Sullivan Center on the campus of St. Francis.