JOLIET, Ill. - University of St. Francis dug itself a big early hole and could not escape it as Saint Xavier led from wire-to-wire and defeated the Saints, 86-75, in a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at the USF Recreation Center.

The Cougars (15-6, 3-0) jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never led by fewer than two points (13-11) the rest of the way. The margin got as big as 13 points on three occasions in the first half and the visitors went to the locker room at halftime with a 12-point edge at 45-33.

Saint Xavier did not let the Saints get any closer in the second half. The Cougars quickly increased the lead to 22 points in the first three minutes of the final half at 58-36. The Saints kept chipping away and finally closed within 11 points at 73-62 with 5:21 left on the clock. SXU, though, responded with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to put the game away.

Despite losing by 11 points, USF (4-15, 0-1) shot a better percentage (54.2 percent to 50.0 percent) from the floor and collected more rebounds (36-29) than SXU. Turnovers were the Saints' biggest enemy, as USF committed 24 miscues compared to SXU's 11.

Junior reserve forward Greg Leavell (Schoolcraft College/Farmington Hills, MI) led all scorers in the game with 24 points. Leavell made 8-of-9 shots from the floor, including his only 3-point attempt, and sank 7-of-8 free throws. Sophomore guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) came off the bench to add 12 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Sophomore reserve forward David Altman (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S./Homewood, IL) led both teams with 7 rebounds.

The Saints are off until next Tuesday evening when they travel to Bourbonnais for a CCAC matchup with Olivet Nazarene.