Joliet, Ill. – Senior guard
Ashton Atwater (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Valley/Ostego) tallied 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while going 6-for-7 from the foul line, with three assists, two rebounds and a steal, and senior guard
Ike Nwaobi (York/Kilgore/Costal Bend/Westbrook) netted 20 points in 18 minutes off the bench, making six of his nine shot from the floor while also going 7-for-9 from the free-throw line, with five points, an assist and a steal, however the No. 7 seeded Saint Xavier University men's basketball team (11-17, 9-11 CCAC) lost to No. 2 University of St. Francis (Ill.) 99-78 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament Quarterfinals Wednesday evening at the Sullivan Center in Joliet, Ill. The Fighting Saints held an advantage from three-point range as they shot at a 68.2 percent clip (15-for-22) to the Cougars' 22.2 percent (4-for-18).
SXU fell behind 14-3 in the first five minutes of the contest, but they used a 16-6 run to pull within a point, 20-19, after Nwaobi pulled down a rebound and went the length of the court for a basket with 10:13 remaining. Senior forward
Grant Martin (Ridgecrest, Calif./Cal State-Long Beach/Citrus/Burroughs) tied the game at 23-23 on a layup at the 7:55 mark. USF closed out the half on a 24-9 run to carry a 47-32 lead into the locker room. Atwater led Saint Xavier with nine points in the first half. The Cougars shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) in the second period, and they went 12-for-15 (80.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Nwaobi recorded 18 of his 20 points in 15 minutes of play, going 5-for-6 from the floor. St. Francis kept its double-digit lead after halftime to move on to the CCAC Tournament Semifinal round.
- Junior guard James Morgan (Chicago, Ill./South Suburban/Lincoln Land/East Chicago Central) posted 11 points as he shot 50.0 percent (4-for-8) and was 3-for-4 from the foul line in 20 minutes of action.
- Martin finished with nine points, two rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes as a reserve.
- Senior forward Davion Lawrence (Oak Lawn, Ill./Moraine Valley/Oak Lawn Community) came away with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in 31 minutes on the court.
- Junior guard Marko Tojagic (Belgrade, Serbia/Saint Andrews) logged seven points, two rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes.
- Senior guard Jerry Abushanab (Glendale Heights, Ill./Oklahoma Panhandle State/Southwest Baptist/Link Prep) added three points, a blocked shot and a steal.
