|
CHICAGO, Ill. --
Just 20 minutes away from a third consecutive loss, the
University of Saint Francis rallied in the second half
to defeat St. Ambrose University 90-82 on Thursday in the
St. Xavier Holiday Tournament.
Having lost both
scoring leader Kevin Sindle and valuable sixth-man Philip
McCray to academic eligibility, the Cougars used a five-man
double-figure scoring performance to avoid another stinging
defeat and smoke the Fighting Bees.
Senior guard Mike
Steinau scored 23 points, Nate Bojrab scored 21 points and
USF outscored SAU (6-8) 54-50 in the second half. SAU led
42-36 at the half.
Kreigh Hentrup added
15 points, his second double-figure effort in the last three
games. Matt Edmonds added 13 points and Zach Christlieb came
off ther bench to score 12 points for the Cougars, who were
ranked No. 20 in the final NAIA DII Top 25 of the year.
USF (8-5) connected
on 18-of-34 shots in the second half, nearly 53 percent, and
combined with 16-for-21 free-throw shooting, the Cougars won
missing four players who have made major contributions this
season. Besides Sindle and McCray, Eric Eaton missed the
game with a soar ankle and Austin Leisure is out for at
least two weeks with a leg injury.
"Our guys did a nice job
against a solid team, so I am very pleased with the effort
and for them to get the win under some very adverse
conditions," USF coach Jeff Rekeweg said. "We beat a very
solid team in St. Ambrose."
USF scored 29 points
off opposition turnovers, "the best job we've done this
season converting mistakes to points," Rekeweg said. "And we
cut down on our turnovers in the second half."
Hentrup, getting his
second straight start, had six turnovers on Wednesday in the
77-58 loss to Mount Marty, but on Thursday he didn't turn
the ball over once.
"He also did a nice
job hitting shots today and showed some leadership today,"
Rekeweg added. "I was also pleased with the way we just kept
playin' hard under adverse conditions during the game. We
kept our composure."
SAU led by as many
as 12 points with 3:07 to play in the first half, but USF
slashed the difference to six on a Bojrab steal and layup.
Alex Burkle scored
with 17:37 to play in the second half giving the Bees the
largest lead of the second half at 46-40. Aaron Gardner tied
the game at 46 with a jumper and after three more ties, Zach
Christlieb came off the bench and hit two free throws with
12:30 to play securing the lead for good for the Cougars at
55-54.
A Bojrab layup
with 10:50 to play made it USF 57-54. Steinau converted a
3-point play with 10:16 to go for a 60-54 edge. A Steinau
layup and two Jason Malone free throws advanced the USF
cause to 10, 64-54 with 9:15 to play. After SAU sliced the
lead to two at 64-62 with 8:14 to play, but Cougars got a
3-pointer from Hentrup started a USF 13-2 run that finished
the Bees.
Box Score
-- Go USF
- |
