No. 22 TIGERS DROP CLOSE BATTLE AT SAINT XAVIER

CHICAGO, Ill. – In a battle between two of the CCAC's top teams, the No. 22 Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball fell on the game's final possession in a 76-75 setback at Saint Xavier Saturday in the Shannon Center.

The Tigers raced out to an early lead thanks to some consistent scoring to start the game, with ONU scoring on five straight possessions midway through the first eight minutes. And when Landon Pflederer was fouled on a three-point attempt at the 12:08 mark of the first half, he sank all three free throws to give ONU an early 19-10 lead.

But that was when Saint Xavier (12-6, 7-3 CCAC) started to chip away at the ONU lead, closing out the half outscoring the Tigers 26-16 to take a one-point lead into the halftime break. The Cougar lead expanded to double-figures early in the second period. Caleb Swearingen opened the second-half scoring to retake the Tiger lead, but SXU responded with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to go back in front.

Trailing 64-57 with under five minutes to play, Tyler Schmidt ignited a 9-0 spurt to get the Tigers back in the game. The senior guard sank a three before driving to the rim for a layup to make it a one-possession game. After a missed jump shot, Sam Emich pulled down the rebound and found Swearingen in transition for a layup to tie the game, and Pflederer gave the Tigers the lead with a jumper one possession later.

With 1:09 to play and tied at 67-67, Schmidt knocked down a big three-pointer to put ONU back in front. SXU hit a free throw to keep it a two-point game, but Daniel Murphy extended the Tiger lead to four with a second-chance layup with 26 seconds to play. 

Saint Xavier, however, sank a three of their own before trading free throws with ONU to make it 74-73 with six seconds to play. Schmidt hit a free throw to extend the lead to two, but a three-point play from SXU's Cedric Johnson with one second remaining sealed the game, snapping ONU's five-game win streak.

Schmidt had another big-time performance, filling in 32 points on 9-of-15 shooting and hitting 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. He also hit three 3's and brought down four rebounds. Pflederer was the only other Tiger in double figures with 16. Swearingen finished with eight, Griffin Andricks and Murphy recorded seven, and Emich netted five.

The Tigers will look to bounce back with a road game at Governors State Monday evening in University Park, Ill. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. CST.

--ONU—

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