CHICAGO – Matt Myers knocked down a buzzer beating, fade away jumper to give the Roosevelt University men's basketball team a 46-44 victory over St. Xavier University on Wednesday, February 23 at the Shannon Center and send the Lakers to the CCAC Conference Tournament semi-finals to face 11^th ranked and top-seeded Olivet Nazarene University.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm on Friday, February 25 at McHie Arena in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Click here to watch Matt Myers' game-winning shot!

The Cougars scored the first four points of the game, but Matt Myers scored the next five points to put the Lakers up 5-4 just over three minutes in.  St. Xavier regained the lead and built a 17-9 advantage with 10:39 to go.  Roosevelt pulled to within 17-15 with 4:36 remaining, but the Cougars led for the rest of the half and took a 25-23 lead into the locker room at the break.

Mark Johnson scored on a layup to begin the second half and tie things up at 25-25.  However, the Cougars scored the next seven points and held the lead until Trenton Kyler hit a three-pointer with 11:49 to play to put the Lakers up 33-32.  St. Xavier came back to hit a three of their own the next time down the court to regain the lead, staying in front for the next five minutes before Andrew Veon scored on a layup to even it up at 38-38.

St. Xavier immediately went back ahead at 40-38, but then Kyler hit two free throws and Myers hit a jumper to give Roosevelt a 42-40 advantage.  Once again, the Cougars answered back with another three-pointer to take a 43-42 lead with 3:55 to go.  A minute and a half later, Kyler connected on a jump shot for a 44-43 lead, and the Cougars tied the game just over 30 seconds later, connecting on one of two free throws to make it a 44-44 game. 

Both teams missed shots down the stretch and Andrew Veon came down with a big rebound with 28 seconds to play to give the visitors a final chance to win the game.  With just seconds remaining, Myers dribbled to his right to the baseline and hit a fade away jumper as time expired to send the Lakers into a frenzy and into the CCAC Tournament semi-finals.

CCAC TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt            23           23           46
                St. Xavier             25           19           44

Records: Roosevelt 19-11 | St. Xavier 17-14

Location: Shannon Center | Chicago, Ill.

KEY STATS

• Matt Myers scored a game-high 18 points, including the game winning jumper at the buzzer, to go with five rebounds & two blocks
• Ayomide Ajiboye pulled down eight rebounds & had a block
• Trenton Kyler registered nine points, four rebounds, & two steals
• Jarod Stonis had five rebounds
• Anthony Martinez grabbed four rebounds
• The Lakers shot 36.4% from the field & just 10.5% from behind the arc
• The Cougars shot 30.6% overall & 31.3% from three-point range
• RU held a slight 38 to 36 rebound advantage over SXU

NEWS & NOTES

• The Lakers advanced to the CCAC Tournament Semi-finals for the first time since 2019
• RU now holds a 7-17 record versus SXU in the all-time series
• The Lakers semi-final opponent, Olivet Nazarene, defeated St. Francis 79-66 to advance to the semi-finals
• RU lost to ONU by the score of 81-65 on January 19 at the Goodman Center in its previous meeting this season