The SXU Men’s Basketball team ended their season this week with a loss in the CCAC Tournament Semifinals.
The Cougars started their tournament run on February 26th when they played the Robert Morris University Eagles at the Shannon Center in a CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals Match.
Saint Xavier entered with a 20-10 record while the Eagles entered with a 19-11 record.
The first half was a high-scoring affair, with both teams shooting some lights out shots. The Cougars jumped out to a nine point lead halfway through the half, but Robert Morris stormed back from there.
The Eagles even took the lead with a little over a minute remaining. However, SXU point guard Mike Shepski scored five points in the final minute to give the Cougars a 47-43 lead going into halftime.
The second half started off close with Robert Morris guard Andre Nelson, scoring four quick points to tie the game up barely two minutes into the half.
However, the Cougars stormed back from there, outplaying the Eagles for the next 10 minutes on route to a 70-63 lead.
The next 10 minutes were very close with the Eagles storming back and cutting the SXU lead to just two points with two minutes left on the clock.
However, the SXU defense completely shut down the Eagles from there, eventually allowing the Cougars to win 98-88. With the win, the Cougars advanced to the CCAC Tournament Semifinals.
Saint Xavier next played on February 28th when they played the Olivet Nazarene University Tigers in the CCAC Tournament Semifinals.
The Tigers entered the game with a 29-2 record and were ranked as the 4th best team in the country. The Cougars started the game off with a bang when Mike Shepski hit a three-pointer to kick off the scoring and give SXU a 3-0 lead.
However, that may have been the high point for the Cougars in the first half. The Tigers completely dominated them from there, eventually ending the first half with a 43-26 lead.
The second half was not much better for SXU, as the Tigers continued to shut down the SXU offense and destroy their defense. The game eventually ended with Olivet Nazarene defeating Saint Xavier by a score of 92-68.
With that loss, SXU’s season was over.
The Cougars needed to either win the tournament or come in a close second in order to make the NAIA National Tournament, but with that devastating loss to Olivet Nazarene, their hopes of making the tournament were dashed.
The SXU Men’s Basketball team has a lot of questions going into next season.
They are losing one of their top stars (Jack Brody) to graduation and have to replace legendary head coach Tom O’Malley, who is retiring.
The Cougars face plenty of obstacles going into next season, but I think they can rebound from this subpar performance and make the NAIA National Tournament next year. But for now, they have to answer some pretty big questions.