SXU took on Indiana South Bend in the CCAC conference championship on Saturday, February 25 at home in the Shannon Center, with ISB edging the Cougars by two points winning 67-65 in a hard fought battle that came down to the wire.
Emotions ran high with the conference title and an opportunity to advance in the NAIA playoffs on the line.
The first half was highly contested, with 11 lead changes and six ties.
SXU did hold the lead however, winning 35-1.
Senior forward Jack Halverson was aggressive in the half, shooting 7-10 from the floor as well as 2-3 from the three point line, scoring 16 total points and two assists.
Junior guard Julian Barr added eight points in the first half as well.
The contest was about as tight as one could be, with a close game on the scoreboard and stat sheet, with SXU shooting 14-26 from the floor and 4-11 from three and ISB shooting 13-26 from the floor and 4-11 from three.
The second half carried the same intensity and focus with back and forth action throughout.
Jack Halverson again led the team in scoring, adding eight points and two more assists to cap off what was a stellar performance overall.
Junior forward Kevin Bishop played much better in the second half scoring seven of his nine total points.
Indiana South Bend rallied in the second half and outscored Saint Xavier 36-30.
During the second half, SXU shot just just 1-5 for three (20%), down from their NAIA leading 41.3%
SXU was outrebounded 13-10 in the second half as well.
With 6:47 remaining, ISB led 61-54 but SXU rallied back and got within two points.
Unfortunately for our Cougars, it wasn’t enough.
With .09 remaining, SXU’s last-second three point attempt was blocked.
Attempting to answer the question of, “what went wrong for the cougars” is difficult to unpack, as the game ultimately came down to the last minute with ISB coming out on top.
It was a tough pill to swallow for SXU.
Overall, the game was about as even as one could get.
Saint Xavier shot 26-50 (52%) from the floor while Indiana South Bend shot 27-52 (51.9).
The real difference in terms of scoring came in the three point department, with the Cougars going just 5-16 (31.3%) while ISB went 8-20 (40%).
With so much to be proud of, it still feels like the season came to a premature end.
This is a special team with so much untapped potential poised to make another run next season.
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