CHICAGO – Roosevelt extended its program-best start to conference play with a gutsy 70-68 win over Judson on Tuesday night in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers (10-4, 7-1) were missing three of their typical starters, but managed to fight through the adversity to make enough plays to win. Yuri Swinford led the way with 20 points while freshman Shane Stevensen scored a season-best 19 points to aid in the effort.

It was a tense affair between the Eagles and Lakers as neither team was able to sustain much momentum throughout the contest. Roosevelt jumped out to a 9-2 lead just four minutes into the game, but Judson scored seven quick points over the next 61 seconds to tie the game. The Eagles went on a 10-0 run that last nearly four minutes in the latter stages of the first half, but the Lakers closed the half on a 12-4 run, capped by Swinford's buzzer-beating 3-point to give Roosevelt a one-point advantage at the break.

Roosevelt had its chances to pull away in the middle of the second half with a 10-3 spurt that gave it a 10-point lead with 12 minutes left. The Lakers were creating stops and turning them into easy points, but the offense eventually dried up as the Eagles clawed their back into the game. They then took a five-point lead with 4:25 left in the game on a Stevensen layup, but scored just a single point the rest of the way as Roosevelt held on with enough stops to preserve the victory.

Matt Myers scored nine points, dished out seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds, tying for the team lead on the glass with Chima Nwosu. Andrew Veon scored eight points and Mark Johnson added seven points as well.

With the victory, the Lakers will enter 2023 atop the CCAC in a four-way tie of teams with just one conference setback. This is the first time the Lakers have won seven league games before the end of December in program history and the 7-1 mark is the team's best through eight conference games. It is the sixth time in school history that the Lakers have won 10 games before the end of the calendar year.

The Lakers return after the holiday break to play Madonna on Dec. 29 at the St. Francis Fighting Saints New Year's Classic in Joliet with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.