CHICAGO – A spirited second-half effort could not push Roosevelt past Parkside on Thursday night in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at the Goodman Center.

The Lakers' 70-61 loss was similar to when the two teams met last month at Parkside with the game being decided in the final minutes. The Rangers scored the first six points of the contest and eventually grew the advantage to 12 less than eight minutes into the first half. Yet Roosevelt (6-15, 3-10 GLIAC) stayed the course and dominated the final five minutes of the half to seemingly take the game into the locker room tied.

Roosevelt went on an 11-0 run that was kicked off by Kennedy Brown's hook shot in the lane with 4:13 left until halftime. Forte Prater added a 3-pointer before Enari Thomas hit a mid-range jump shot and Prater nailed the pull-up jumper. Brown got a tip-in to fall with 20 seconds left in the half that tied the game at 33, but Parkside beat the buzzer with a corner 3 to take the lead into intermission.

The lead changed hands three times in the first four minutes of the second half and continued to flip as the midway point neared. Khalil Haywood hit a long jump shot to break a 45-45 tie with 11:17 left, and that proved to be the last lead the Lakers held. Parkside scored the next seven points and the Lakers continued to battle back to within a bucket on a handful of occasions. But when the foul game began, the Rangers were able to stave off the Lakers' furious rally.

Thomas led all scorers with 19 points and shot 8 of 16 from the floor. He was joined in double figures by Prater, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, meanwhile Brown was an efficient 4 of 6 from the floor and also secured eight boards. Haywood was the spark for the Lakers in the second half with his nine rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass to extend possessions. Roosevelt scored eight points off its eight offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT: Roosevelt will take the weekend off then return to action Monday night at 7 p.m. in Hammond, Ind. against Purdue Northwest.