Whiting, Ind. – Senior guard Steven Ukiteyedi (Gaithersburg, Md./Allegheny/UMBC/Quince Orchard) sank a pair of free throws with :55 second left in regulation and the Cougar defense kept Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) off the board as Saint Xavier University men's basketball (10-6, 5-3 CCAC) came away with an 80-79 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) victory over the Crimson Wave in Whiting, Ind. Monday afternoon. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, January 13 but was moved to Monday because of inclement weather over the weekend. Senior guard Cedric Johnson (Bellevue, Neb./Sioux Falls/Nebraska-Kearney/Bellevue West) led all scorers with a season-best 33 points on 11-of-16 shooting to pace the SXU offense, along with eight rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. He also made a season-high nine foul shots on 12 attempts and eclipsed the 30-point mark for just the second time this year.

• Junior forward Andre Brandon (Coralville, Iowa/Sauk Valley/Liberty) finished with a season-high 21 points, making 5-of-7 shots and was 9-for-9 from the foul line. He added three rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal.
• Freshman forward James Stevenson (Sun River Terrace, Ill./Momence) tallied eight points, came away with a career-best three steals and had a rebound.
• Ukiteyedi finished with six points, along with two rebounds, two steals and an assist in just 11 minutes off the bench.
• Junior guard Sando Hill (Vanoss, Okla./Lyon/Seminole State/Vanoss) added five points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Both teams were hot from the field in the first half as CCSJ shot at a 60.6 percent (20-for-33) clip, while Saint Xavier made 50.0 percent (12-for-24) of its shots. The Cougars set the tone early by jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes before Calumet St. Joseph rallied to tie the game at 10-10 with 15:31 to go. The Crimson Wave carried the momentum the rest of the half, going up 36-28 at the 3:12 mark and they held a 45-38 advantage at halftime. Johnson was 6-for-9 from the field in the frame with 19 points, while Brandon was 3-for-4 and 5-for-5 from the foul line for 12 points.
• SXU retook the lead after a three by Brandon off a pass from Johnson, 54-53, with 12:44 left. The teams traded the lead the rest of the way and Saint Xavier would call a timeout with 1:06 to go and Ukiteyedi came out of the stoppage by making the game-winning free throws. The Cougars shot 60.9 percent (14-for-23) in the second half to a 50.0 percent (13-for-26) mark for CCSJ. SXU made a season-best 23 free throws on a season-high 27 attempts to improve to 5-3 in conference play.

Saint Xavier (10-6, 5-3 CCAC) is back home at the Shannon Center as they take on University of St. Francis (Ill.) in a CCAC contest on Wednesday, January 17. The game is slated for a 7:00 pm start.