CHICAGO – Senior guard Cedric Johnson (Bellevue, Neb./Sioux Falls/Nebraska-Kearney/Bellevue West) recorded his first double-double of the season after scoring a team-high 20 points and pulling down a team-best 10 rebounds, however Saint Xavier University men's basketball (1-2, 0-0 CCAC) lost to Missouri Baptist University 89-69 in non-conference action Tuesday evening on Bob Hallberg Court at the Shannon Center in Chicago, Ill. Johnson was 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from the field, and he added a pair of assists. He has scored 20 or more in all three games to start the 2023-24 season for the Cougars, averaging 23.0 points per game.

• Junior forward Andre Brandon (Coralville, Iowa/Sauk Valley/Iowa City Liberty) also finished in double figures for the third straight contest, pouring in 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting and was 50.0 percent from three-point range (4-8). He also grabbed five rebounds with a block and a steal.
• Redshirt freshman guard Mason Kibelkis (Peotone, Ill./Peotone) came off the bench and scored a career-high 14 points along with a steal in 22 minutes of action.
• Junior guard Sando Hill (Vanoss, Okla./Lyon/Seminole State/Vanoss) collected nine points, a team-best five assists and a pair of steals.
• The Spartans jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes and forced an SXU timeout at the 16:01 mark after a three to extend their lead to 13-3. MBU pushed its advantage to 29-5 with 11:47 left in the first half. Saint Xavier battled back and ended the frame on a 14-2 run to head into halftime trailing 48-34. Johnson paced the Cougars with 10 points and Kibelkis was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc with nine points.
• Both teams traded baskets in to start the second half and Hill pulled SXU within 10 points, 55-45, after he made a pair of foul shots at the 15:03 mark. That would be as close as they would get in the contest as Missouri Baptist held a double-digit lead the rest of the way. Brandon scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half and was 3-for-4 from three-point range. Johnson recoded 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes on the court in the frame.

Saint Xavier (1-2, 0-0 CCAC) travels to Winona Lake, Ind. to take on No. 2 Grace College (Ind.) on Tuesday, November 14. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm central start.