LTU Hoops Defeated by Saint Xavier

Livonia, MI – The Lawrence Technological University Blue Devils finished up the Bernie Holowicki Classic against Saint Xavier University. The men lost a very tight game as both teams competed to the final buzzer. This is LTU’s third straight loss. With many opportunities on the table to take the lead at the end in this one, the Blue Devils fell just short as the final in this one was 74-68.

The scoring leaders were Brandon Beavers and Carter Frantz who both had 17. Beavers added eight assists, along with two steals. The two other Blue Devils in double figures on the afternoon were Gunnar Gustafson who collected himself a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Alek Ivanovic ended with 14 of his own.

The eight players who came off the bench struggled to put the ball in the hoop, as there were only five points of bench production. Andrew Rinn was the only scorer with five.

SXU started this game off with a 6-0 run but was ended right when Frantz nailed a three-pointer to answer back with their own 8-0. Both teams continued to trade baskets early, but Rinn hit a jump shot to make it 21-17. After Rinn’s bucket, SXU hit consecutive baskets which led LTU to call a full timeout with 4:32 left in the half.

The score going into the timeout was 29-25 LTU was down.  

Right out of the timeout, Sanna Sisawo snatched an offensive rebound to keep the possession alive, and Gustafson was able to bang down low that forced a shooting foul, and he sunk both to cut the deficit to three. 

A couple of possessions later as the first half was winding down LTU found themselves down a couple of baskets, but Ivanovic knocked down a three that gave them the lead back 35-34 with 0:41 left.

LTU entered the half-up one. The Blue Devils shot the ball 40.1% from the field, 31.6% from deep, and 75.0% from the line.

The pace of play in the second half was just as competitive as the first, LTU went down one point three minutes in, but a Beavers deep three put them back up two 47-45 with 14:56 to play.

With 12:04 to play, a SXU basket from Campbell Charles Jr. put the Cougars back up two points right before a full timeout was called from their bench.

Out of the timeout, Saint Xavier kept the lead as both teams continued to trade baskets. The biggest lead for the Cougars was up to ten that came with 3:07 to go in the game.

With time running out, LTU found themselves struggling to convert in the frontcourt as they were forced to foul and play the free throw game down the stretch.

As time expired and a hard-fought game between both programs, LTU fell short 74-68. LTU made 26-80 field goals shooting 43.3%, 11-35 shooting 31.4% from deep, and made 5-6 free throws.

The Blue Devils (2-3) return to action Wednesday night November 10th when they open up WHAC play at home against Concordia University. This game will tip off at 7:30 PM.