GEORGETOWN, Ky. --- Life has not been good on the road this season for University of St. Francis. Combine that with playing the No. 18-ranked team in NAIA I in Georgetown College (Ky.) and the result was not a good one for USF Thursday afternoon as the Saints dropped an 82-56 decision to the Tigers.
The loss left USF winless on their three-game holiday road trek through Missouri and Kentucky and put the team at 1-11 away from the Rec Center this season. At home, the Saints have split their six decisions going 3-3.
Georgetown (12-2) took advantage of a cold-shooting St. Francis team in the first half to build a 35-24 lead at the break. The Saints managed to convert just 11 of their 30 field goal attempts, while also turning over the ball 11 times in the first 20 minutes. That deficit could have been worse had Georgetown hit from outside, where the Tigers went 0-for-7 opposite 14-of-22 (.636) inside the three-point arc.
Georgetown was never able to extend its lead much beyond the 11-point difference for the first nine minutes of the second half, either, where the Saints had opportunities to slice the deficit down to single digits on a few occasions. The last time came with 11:29 to play.
After that, "the wheels just fell off," said USF head coach Pat Sullivan. "There is no doubt about it that the other team was much better than us, but we gave in at the end, which wasn't the case in our first two games on the trip."
Georgetown finished up the second half outscoring the Saints 47-32 aided by a 70 percent shooting mark from the field (21-of-30). For the game, the Tigers hit at a .593 clip, while USF stumbled to a .390 mark.
Senior guards Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) and Tristan Therkield (Richards H.S./Oak Lawn, IL) were the only two Saints to score in double figures, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Georgetown, meanwhile, posted four players with at least 10 points highlighted by Vic Moses' 28 points and 10 rebounds.
The Saints (4-14) return to the Rec Center next Wednesday (Jan. 13) when they host Saint Xavier University in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
