CHICAGO – Forte Prater and Enari Thomas took over in crunch time to will Roosevelt to a 100-93 win over Saginaw Valley State in overtime Saturday in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the Goodman Center.

It was a tense back-and-forth affair between the two teams battling for the final spot in the conference tournament next month. The Lakers (7-16, 4-11 GLIAC) held the lead for most of the first 30 minutes, but trailed for much of the final 10 minutes. The deficit grew to as many as six with six minutes left and it still stood at five with two minutes left in regulation.

Thomas answered with a 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining off the feed from Prater, and Kennedy Brown did his part in the paint to secure a defensive rebound. After a Roosevelt timeout, Prater was aggressive down the lane and hit one of his signature floaters to tie the game at 77. The Cardinals hit a jump shot of their own at the other end, but once again Prater had the answer. The senior guard contorted his body through a crowded paint area and put just enough touch on his layup to fall with three seconds left, sending the game to overtime.

Once in the extra session, Roosevelt had full control with its two star guards leading the way. The duo of Prater and Thomas scored 19 of the Lakers' 21 points in the extra session, including the first 14 Roosevelt points in the period. Prater started the overtime with a 3-pointer then Thomas hit a floater to extend the lead to five. After the Cardinals tied the game, Thomas went on a personal 9-3 run to ice the game, starting with a three-point play with three minutes left.

Thomas scored 22 of his career-high 34 points in the second half and overtime, half of which came in the overtime. The junior was a perfect 5 for 5 in the extra period while Prater made 5 of 6 from the free throw line to ice the game. Prater scored 16 of his 22 in the final 25 minutes, but he also added eight rebounds and six assists in the game.

The only other points in the overtime came from Khalil Haywood, who gently tapped home a Prater layup to restore Roosevelt's five-point lead. It was the 11^th rebound for Haywood on the day, the first time he has eclipsed double-digit rebounds after flirting with it the past month. He had seven of those boards on the offensive end, helping Roosevelt score 13 second-chance points.

However, no one stuffed the stat sheet Saturday quite like Griffin Yaklich, who finished just one assist shy of the second triple-double in program history. The graduate transfer scored 14 points, tied Haywood for the team lead with 11 rebounds and also dished out the nine helpers. He was the unheralded key performer in the second half for Roosevelt, scoring eight points and grabbing seven boards in the second half and overtime.  

Fred Robinson IV helped Thomas carry the load in the first half, hitting 4 of 7 from behind the arc for 12 points. He made one of his two attempts from long range in the second half to finish with 15 points before fouling out. The Lakers led the game 12-2 early on before the Cardinals responded with a 14-2 run. Roosevelt was able to extend the lead back out to 10 late in the half before settling for a five-point edge at halftime.

UP NEXT: The Lakers will look to complete the season sweep of Wayne State on Monday night when the Warriors visit the Goodman Center for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.