The No. 9 ranked Saint Xavier University men’s basketball squad continues to win as their winning streak has hit 13 consecutive games after two more wins this past week. SXU was ranked No. 12 in the nation, but their winning streak has propelled them into the top 10.
The Cougars had two Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) games this past week against University of Saint Francis (Ill.) and Trinity International University (Ill.). Saint Xavier had a hard fought victory over TIU by the final score of 88-84 and posted a big win over USF, 68-41.
SXU’s most recent game came on the road on Saturday, February 9, at Trinity International in Deerfield, Ill. The Cougars were led by junior guard Brad Karp with a double-double of 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds against the host Trojans.
Saint Xavier had three players hit double figures in the game in addition to Karp, senior point guard Anthony Grant had 20 points and sophomore guard Jack Krieger recorded 16 points in 34 minutes of action. SXU had a tough time slowing down the high-powered offense that the Trojans brought as they finished the game shooting 61 percent from the field.
The Cougars found themselves down 10-0 over the first three minutes of the game, but Saint Xavier clawed back into the game and tied it at 14 apiece with about 13 minutes to play in the first half. SXU went into the halftime intermission ahead by five at 48-43.
The Cougars came out of the gate hot in the second half by taking a commanding 16 point advantage, but the Trojans would not go down easy. TIU trailed by only two in the final seconds on the game with an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but a costly turnover and steal by senior forward Dominique Harvey led to a lay-up by Harvey to put the game on ice and gave Saint Xavier the 88-84 victory over a very game Trinity International University team.
SXU had a big victory over University of Saint Francis (Ill.) on Wednesday, February 6, on the road in Joliet, Ill. The Cougars were led by Grant who scored a game-best 22 points on 11-of-12 shooting on the evening.
Saint Xavier also had nice performances by Karp and senior point guard Roosevelt Green who had 12 and 10 points, respectively. SXU played lockdown defense throughout the contest only allowing USF to shoot 28 percent from the field in the game on 16-of-57 shooting.
The host Fighting Saints only had one player score in double digits, which was freshman guard Edvinas Presniakovas who posted 12 points in the game. The Cougars forced 20 turnovers in the contest which led to 16 points for the visitors.
“We wanted to make sure that we came out of here with a win especially after that tough loss that the girls had before us, because they love us just as much as we love them,” said Grant. “We definitely did not want to go back to Coug-ville with two losses.”
Saint Xavier only found themselves tied one time in the game as University of Saint Francis only had an early lead that quickly evaporated in SXU’s favor. The Cougars had a 27-point lead at one time with just over two minutes remaining in the second half and Saint Xavier went on to win by that same margin after a 68-41 victory.
“We just want to take it game by game right now,” said student-assistant coach DeVon Chandler. “We do not want to focus on the conference tournament because we do not want to overlook anybody, we just want to make sure we take it a game at a time and come out of these games with a W.”
Saint Xavier returns home for its next game against Purdue University-North Central (Ind.) on Wednesday, February 13. The game is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Shannon Center in Chicago.
Greg Pilafas
Deputy Editor in Chief