TIGERS FALL LATE TO FIGHTING SAINTS

JOLIET, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team got the new year off on the wrong foot with a 68-65 road loss to the St. Francis Fighting Saints Wednesday evening. 

A slow start put the Tigers in a hole early. After Tyler Schmidt scored on a layup that cut the lead at the midway point of the first half, the Tigers would score only one point over the next six-and-a-half minutes. Braydon Flagg snapped the drought with a three-pointer from the top of the key, but five-straight points for the Fighting Saints (6-6, 5-3 CCAC) put ONU at a 13-point deficit.

The Tigers rallied back over the end of the first half and the start of the second, battling back to eventually tie the game 44-44 after Schmidt converted on a three-point play. After the Saints scored a three-pointer on the following possession, Landon Pflederer had the answer with a three of his own to tie it back up.

Schmidt would give the Tigers their first lead since the game's opening basket with a layup at the midway point of the second half. And after Daniel Murphy scored a put-back layup, the Tigers led by six with just five minutes to play.

Another Pflederer three kept ONU up six at 63-57 with 4:09 to play, but this would prove to be the last points for the Tigers until the waning seconds of the game, This allowed St. Francis to put together an 8-0 run down the stretch to take a two-point lead.

Pflederer tied the game up with thirty-five seconds to play on a pair of clutch free throws. On St. Francis' final possession, Murphy met a Fighting Saint at the rim with a huge block, but the ball went out of bounds. St. Francis was able to convert the second-chance basket and knocked down a free throw after the fou, leaving only two seconds on the game clock.

The Tigers didn't have the answer on their possession, falling 68-65 to their conference foe. ONU gave up four turnovers over the final four minutes to surrender the lead to the Fighting Saints.

Schmidt and Pflederer led all scorers with 21 and 17, respectively. Both players also grabbed five rebounds each.

The defeat marks just the second conference loss for ONU. The Tigers will look to bounce back Saturday against Trinity International.

GAME VITALS

Final: St. Francis (Ill.) 68, Olivet Nazarene 65

Records: St. Francis (Ill.) 6-6 (5-3 CCAC) |  Olivet Nazarene 11-5 (6-2 CCAC)

Location: Pat Sullivan Center | St. Francis University | Joliet, Ill.

QUICK HITS

• Tyler Schmidt and Landon Pflederer led all scorers with 21 and 17, respectively

• The Tigers shot 50-percent (7-of-14) from three and nearly 50-percent from the floor (22-of-46).

• ONU committed 17 turnovers to St. Francis' 10.

• The Tigers were outrebounded 33-29.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers return to McHie Arena for the first time in nearly a month for a CCAC matchup against Trinity International. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CST following the women's game.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu