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01.30.08 -
The University of St.
Francis Cougars (12-12, 3-7) led for most of the first half and used
some timely shooting down the stretch to upset the NAIA Division II
24th-ranked Foresters (16-8, 6-4) 75-71.
Both teams had a slow start at the
offensive end, but it was St. Francis that warmed up first. A
Matt Webb trey at the 10:23 mark gave the Cougars a seven-point
advantage at 17-10 and an 8-3 spurt push the margin to 12 with six and
a half minutes to go. The Foresters quieted the crowd with a 9-0
run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to three. The
teams traded baskets down the stretch and the Cougars had a 33-30 edge
at intermission.
The second half was
a seesaw affair. St. Francis extended its lead to seven early in
the period, but HU rallied to tie it at 43 at the 13:23 mark.
The Cougars then had a 13-5 spurt to take a 56-48 lead midway through
the half, but again, the Foresters pulled them back and knotted the
score at 60 with 6:06 remaining.
With just under
three minutes to play, the Foresters finally put enough defensive
stops together with their offense and took a 67-63 lead on a Luke
Smith jumper, but the lead was short-lived. St. Francis' Mike
Steinau answered Smith's bucket with a three and then HU committed
back-to-back turnovers. The Cougars converted on both and took a
70-67 lead with 1:39 to play. The teams traded misses on the next
three possessions and HU was forced to foul with 21 seconds left.
Nate Bojrab hit one of two to extend St. Francis' advantage to 71-67.
Although Kyle Benge was able to score two lay-ups in the final seconds
for the Foresters, the Cougars connected on all four free throws in
between to earn the four-point victory.
HU's Doug Sheckler
and the Cougar's Steinau each had 24 points in the game. Smith
finished with 13 for the Foresters and Kevin Kyle added nine points
and a game-high eight boards. Bojrab joined Steinau in double
figures for St. Francis with 14.
Box Score
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