SXU Beats Stritch for CCAC Title
The Saint Xavier University men’s basketball team won an 85-74 thriller at Cardinal Stitch University on Saturday.
The Cougars really came to play in Milwaukee against the team that handed them two of their four regular season losses.
The Stritch Wolves first beat the Cougars in Wisconsin on Nov. 20 by a final score of 82-74. Then Cardinal Stritch came to Chicago on Feb. 1 and shot 59.6% from the floor as a team, picking up a 93-84 win against the Cougars.
But on Saturday, Saint Xavier was in control from the onset.
With 17:37 left in the first half, Wolves’ big man Garrett Borgrud made one of his free throws to go up 3-2. Fourteen seconds later, sophomore Darius Draper knocked down a jumper to put the Cougars up 4-3.
From that point on, Saint Xavier would never see a deficit. The closest they would come was a three-point lead with 9:07 left in the game.
Junior guard Jack Krieger led both teams with 25 points. He also tied with senior point guard (and former Wolf) Michael Simpson for most minutes, as each played 36.
Senior guard Brad Karp did not see his usual workload. He played 31 minutes and scored 19 points, second most behind Krieger. Karp also tied Krieger, sophomore forward Josh Mawhorr and Simpson for most Cougar rebounds with four.
Simpson was the only other player to score in double-figures. He scored 17 points, 11 of which came from his 12 free-throw attempts. Krieger was 6-for-7 on free throws and Karp finished at 6-of-9.
As a group, Saint Xavier did a good job getting to the line. They attempted just eight free throws in the first half, but they got to the charity stripe 21 times in the second half and buried 17 of those.
CCAC Quarterfinals and Semifinals
Saint Xavier breezed through the quarterfinals and semifinals of the CCAC Tournament against the University of Saint Francis (Ill.) and Roosevelt University on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
Four Cougars scored double-digits against the Saints at home on Wednesday, helping SXU to an 84-61 win. The leader was Karp, who scored 25 points and tied for the game-high with six rebounds.
Simpson and Mawhorr each scored 13 points, and Mawhorr tied Karp with six boards. Krieger, despite going 1-for-6 from three-point range, still managed 10 points.
On Friday night, Saint Xavier traveled to (CCAC regular season champ and tournament host) Cardinal Stritch to play Roosevelt.
The Cougars got double-digit scoring performances from Karp, Krieger and Simpson. Mathematicians will be pleased to know that they scored 20, 18 and 16, respectively.
Karp and Mawhorr again tied for the team lead with seven rebounds in that contest, which ended in a 73-59 victory for Saint Xavier and resulted in the game against Cardinal Stritch.
Looking Ahead
The games that Saint Xavier played against Saint Francis and Roosevelt turned out to be relatively easy victories. But it was not because of free-throw shooting.
The Cougars shot 60% from the line against Saint Francis on 20 total attempts. They shot an even more dismal 55.6% against Roosevelt on nine total attempts.
That all changed on Saturday. Getting to the charity stripe 29 times against a quality opponent like Stritch is a good thing in itself, but then the Cougars converted 81% of their opportunities, which should bode well for the Cougars in the national tournament.
The final poll comes out today, but as of last Tuesday’s top-25 coaches’ poll, the Cougars were ranked No. 7. After having beaten the No. 1-ranked Wolves on Saturday, Saint Xavier’s stock should rise.
Depending on today’s poll and their seeding, the Cougars will face an as yet undetermined opponent in the NAIA national championships a week from today.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor