St. Francis (IL) News
Sat, Nov 21, 2009 - [Men's Basketball]
Sophomore Lukas Zebrauskas led USF with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
Sophomore Lukas Zebrauskas led USF with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

HUNTINGTON, Ind. - Unbeaten Huntington University (7-0) got all it could handle from University of St. Francis in a tight first half but pulled away from the Saints in the final 13 minutes to post an 86-62 men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon.

USF (1-6) led for all but the first of the game's initial 11 minutes and still only trailed the Foresters by 7 at 45-38 at halftime. USF led by as many as 5 points at 20-15 when reserve forward Lukas Zebrauskas (Stagg H.S./Palos Heights, IL) hit his only 3-pointer of the game on his way to a team-high 15 points. Zebrauskas collected 11 of his 15 in the opening half.

The Saints hung tough with the Foresters in the early moments of the second half and did not allow Huntington to push the margin to double digits until the 13:53 mark when the hosts went ahead by a 55-45 score. The Saints cut it back to an 8-point game on one more occasion (55-47) but Huntington then pulled away and built the lead to as many as 26 points in the game's final minute.
 
Zebrauskas hit 7-of-8 shots on his way to the 15-point game. Sophomore center Bruce Watson (Schoolcraft College/Detroit, MI) was just a single point behind Zebrauskas as he finished the afternoon with 14 points and made 5-of-8 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 free throws. Watson also led the Saints with 4 rebounds.
 
The loss was the sixth in succession for the Saints after USF won its season opener over Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) back on Nov. 4.
 
USF returns to action on Tuesday night when the Saints travel to Clinton, Iowa, for a nonconference matchup with Ashford University.