The Saint Xavier Cougars Men’s Basketball team came in this week with a lot to prove. They entered with a 9-16 record and hadn’t been able to gain any momentum over the past few weeks.
The Cougars looked to shake off their recent run of streaky performances on February 4th when they played Calumet College.
It was a very back and forth affair in the beginning, but SXU soon got on a hot streak.
Saint Xavier played so well they were up 25 after the first half, leading Calumet 59-34. The second half was more of the same with the Cougars, carrying over their hot streak from the first half. Eventually, Calumet gave up and allowed the Cougars to jump out to a 36 point lead. SXU slowed down a bit, but eventually they were able to close things up and win 112-83. Saint Xavier improved to 10-16 on the year, while Calumet fell to 16-8 with the defeat.
The Cougars got back to work two days later when they played Roosevelt University at the Shannon Center. The Roosevelt Lakers entered the game with a 16-10 record.
The Lakers got off to a hot start, jumping out to an 11 point lead halfway through the first half. However, SXU was able to get on a hot streak and evaporated Roosevelt’s lead.
Saint Xavier were even able to get a 3 point lead of their own going into half time. The Cougars picked things off in the second half much like how they ended the first half, with complete and total dominance of the game.
The team was even able to get a 12 point lead with 10 minutes left in the game. However, Saint Xavier started to fall apart in the final half of the second half.
The Lakers and Cougars traded leads until Roosevelt guard Jake Ludwig made a go-ahead layup with one minute left. With little time left on the clock, SXU guard Jack Brody shot a potentially gametying shot, but it missed and the clock expired. Roosevelt won the game 78-76. SXU fell to 10-17 on the year, while Roosevelt improved to 17-10 with the victory.
After that debilitating defeat, the Cougars had to regroup and played Indiana University-South Bend on February 9th. The IU-South Bend Titans entered the game with an 11-16 record. It was very back and forth for most of the first half, but near the end, the Titans pulled away with it and eventually ended the first half with an 11 point lead.
SXU clawed their way back in the second half and eventually tied the game up at 71 with seven minutes left to play.
However, IU-South Bend pulled away with the game after the seven minute mark and eventually won 95-88. Saint Xavier fell to 10-18 with the loss, while IU-South Bend improved to 12-16.
The Cougars play two times next week, which will be their final games of the regular season.
SXU needs to play great next week against Judson University and Robert Morris University if they want to stand any chance in the CCAC Tournament.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor