JOLIET, Ill. - For the second straight night at the Recreation Center, the Fighting Saints let an opponent scramble its way into overtime and sneak out of Joliet with a come-from-behind win. One night after Purdue Calumet escaped with a single-overtime win, Judson handed the University of St. Francis men a 102-92 double overtime loss.

USF (2-10) bolted out to a 46-29 halftime lead and led by as many as 21 points on two separate occasions in the opening 20 minutes.

Judson (2-10) used an effective full-court press and some deadly 3-point shooting to start the second half and quickly got itself back into the game with a 19-6 run that sliced the Saints' advantage down to just 4 points at 52-48 with 14:18 left in regulation.

The Saints then regained their composure and ran off an 8-2 spurt to push the margin back to double digits at 60-50. USF kept control and eventually got the lead back to just one point shy of the halftime margin when it extended the lead to 71-55 with 7:51 remaining.

But Judson had another comeback in its reservoir.

The Eagles, who still trailed by 14 at 75-61 with 4:26 left, outscored the Saints 18-4 down the stretch to finally tie the game at 79 apiece with 28 seconds on the clock. The Saints worked the clock down for one last shot and Greg Leavell's (Schoolcraft College/Farmington Hills, MI) jumper bounced off the rim with 1 second to go.

USF scored first in the initial overtime and trailed only briefly at 84-83. After regaining the lead at 85-84, Leavell made a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to push the margin to 3 at 87-84. Judson responded yet again, with Josh Edwards sinking a fadeaway 3-pointer at the 13-second mark to knot the score at 87-87. The Saints again worked for a final shot. Derek Ciezczak (Stagg H.S./Hickory Hills, IL) rimmed out a jumper with two seconds left and Ryan Gunderson's (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) successful 3-pointer off the glass after a long rebound came just after the buzzer sounded and was not allowed.

The second overtime was a different story. This time it was Judson jumping out to the quick lead and USF was unable to climb back out of the hole. Judson scored the first 8 points of the second extra session and the Saints never got closer than 7 points in the final two minutes.

Leavell led all scorers in the game with a career-high 31 points, notching 10 in each of the first and second halves and 11 total in the two overtimes. Junior forward/center Justin Richmond (Highland CC/Waukegan, IL) finished with 16 points and reserve center Bruce Watson (Schoolcraft College/Detroit, MI) added 11 points, all in the first half. Ciezczak led all rebounders in the game with a dozen.

Judson, who snapped a 10-game losing streak with the win, was led by guards Landon Skinner and Marious Lobdell who notched 27 and 25 points respectively.  Skinner got most of his at the free throw line, sinking 17-of-23 charity tosses. Lobdell was a thorn in the Saints' side all night, hitting 9-of-12 shots, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range.

USF is now off for nearly two weeks. The Saints return to action after final exams on Friday, Dec. 18 when they play Valley City State (ND) in the first round of the Robert Morris Christmas Tournament in Chicago.