BALANCED SCORING ATTACK LIFTS No. 19 TIGERS PAST HOLY CROSS

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The No. 19 Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to take down the Holy Cross Saints 77-63 Wednesday evening in McHie Arena.

Five Tigers reached double-figures in the win, led by junior guard Caleb Swearingen, who filled in 17 on 7-of-11 shooting. Landon Pflederer knocked down a pair of three-pointers on his way to 15 points. Tyler Schmidt chipped in 12 points, Eli Edwards came off the bench to contribute 11, and Sam Emich netted 10.

Along with the balanced scoring, ONU relied on its defense. Holy Cross (5-10, 0-7 CCAC) shot just 38 percent from the floor, making 23-of-60 of their attempts. That included just a 6-of-19 effort from beyond the arc for the Saints.

That defense helped ONU overcome a slow start. After Griffin Andricks opened the scoring with a layup, HCC responded with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. Pflederer retaliated with a three-point play to get ONU back on the board, and the Tigers would recover to grab a 38-31 lead into the halftime break.

Four of the five ONU starters scored a basket over the first four minutes to open a double-digit lead at 46-34. The Saints cut the lead to single digits a few possessions later, but a Pflederer layup ignited an 11-0 ONU run. And when Edwards sank a free throw with 9:04 remaining, the Tigers led by 18. The outcome was never in question from there.

Andricks led the team on the glass with a game-high 10 rebounds. He also chipped in six points. Gabe Renchen scored four and Daniel Murphy contributed a bucket. 

The win, the team's fourth in a row, improves the Tigers to 12-3 overall and 6-1 in the CCAC. The Purple & Yellow Gold will visit Governors State this Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

--ONU—

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