DAVENPORT, Iowa - The University of St. Francis men's basketball team took some steps toward improvement this weekend, but the hard work still did not show up in the win column. Missouri Valley College held off a late USF charge and handed the Saints their fifth straight loss in a 69-65 game on the final day of the Pepsi Challenge hosted by St. Ambrose University.

USF led by as many as seven points with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game and never trailed by more than six against a Missouri Valley (3-1) team that had soundly defeated host St. Ambrose, 70-52, one night earlier.

USF's big lead was a 52-45 edge with 11:45 left. The Vikings then scored seven straight points to tie the game at 52-52 with 10:11 left.

USF grabbed the lead two more times, once at 54-52 and again at 57-56, but cold not sustain the edge. Missouri Valley opened its biggest lead at 65-59 with 1:28 remaining. The Saints battled to the end, cutting the gap to 3 points at 65-62 and then finally pulling within two at 67-65 on a 3-point bucket by senior Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) but there were only two seconds left on the clock.

Sophomore center Bruce Watson (Schoolcraft College/Detroit, MI) led all scorers in the game with 20 points. Watson canned 10-of-16 shots and also pulled down a game-high 7 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) also scored in double figures for the Saints with 14 points. Sophomore guard Derek Ciezczak (Stagg H.S./Hickory Hills, IL) led the team with 5 assists and 3 steals.

USF is off for a week before traveling to Huntington (IN) University next Saturday afternoon. The Saints defeated Huntington a year ago, 84-70, in their home and season opener.