Joliet, Ill. – The Saint Xavier University men's basketball team (16-12, 11-9 CCAC) ended the regular season with a narrow 64-61 loss to University of St. Francis in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) contest Saturday afternoon at the Sullivan Center in Joliet, Ill. Junior forward Andre Brandon (Coralville, Iowa/Sauk Valley/Liberty) posted his second consecutive double-double and his sixth of the season after he collected 21 points and 10 rebounds, along with two steals and a blocked shot, for the Cougars. SXU now enters postseason play, as they will compete in the CCAC Tournament that begins on February 28.

• Senior guard Cedric Johnson (Bellevue, Neb./Sioux Falls/Nebraska-Kearney/Bellevue West) also scored 21 points for Saint Xavier, making seven of his 13 shot attempts and going 7-for-7 from the foul line. He also had eight rebounds and a steal.
• Junior Trey Ward (Chicago Ridge, Ill./Oak Lawn Community) scored five points, along with three assists and a pair of rebounds.
• Freshman forward James Stevenson (Sun River Terrace, Ill./Momence) recorded five points as well. He added an assist, a rebound and a steal.
• The Cougars started the game on a 9-2 run that saw Brandon score five points. USF rallied back and took a 18-14 lead midway through the half forcing an SXU timeout. Johnson knocked down a jumper to put Saint Xavier back up 23-22 at the 3:26 mark. The Fighting Saints would go back up 27-23 over the next minute before Stevenson hit a jumper high off the backboard and he would convert the 'And-one' to cut the deficit to one, 27-26, on the next time down the court. Johnson hit a jump-shot with just under a minute left in the half and Saint Xavier went into halftime with a 30-29 lead. Johnson finished the first half with 13 points, while Brandon had 10.
• St. Francis scored the first six points to start the second half to build its largest lead of the game, 35-30, with 18:26 remaining. Two minutes later Brandon sank a step-back three, came away with a steal and he hit two technical foul shots to help SXU regain the lead, 40-38, with 15:42 to go. Ward drained a three-pointer to extended the lead to 50-44 at the 10:48 mark, however USF chipped away and neither team was able to maintain more than a two-possession lead the rest of the way. Johnson made a pair of free throws with 1:58 left in regulation to give Saint Xavier a 58-57 lead. The Fighting Saints called timeout a possession later and hit a three with :47 to go and they sank a pair of foul shots with :10 left. Brandon would convert an 'old-fashioned' three-point play with :04 remaining to make to 62-61. Two more foul shots put St. Francis up three with no time coming off the clock, but the in-bounds pass by the Cougars was knocked away.

Saint Xavier (16-12, 11-9 CCAC) draws the No. 5 seed in the upcoming CCAC Tournament and will be on the road for its quarterfinal contest. Time and opponent are TBA, and will be announced by the conference early next week.