NOTRE DAME, Ind. --- University of St. Francis head coach Pat Sullivan called on his bench early Saturday afternoon and the bench delivered in a big way leading the Saints to an 89-76 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Holy Cross College (Ind.).

Freshman Michael Cole (Manley H.S./Chicago, IL) was the first Saint substitute to get the call and the 6-5 center came through with career-highs in both points (20) and rebounds (11). Sophomore guards Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) and Robbie Butcher (Stagg H.S./Orland Park, IL) followed authoring a team-high 21 and 10 points, respectively, to account for three-fourths of USF's quartet of double-figure scorers.

Cole, replacing a foul-plagued Dan Dispenza (Joliet Catholic Academy/Joliet, IL), was perfect from the field (4-for-4) in the first half and connected on 7 of his 8 shots for the game in recording his first collegiate double-double.

Hubly was just as hot nailing 6 of his 8 field goal attempts, including 5-of-7 from three-point range.

"Michael, Butcher and Hubly, those three especially, really came through for us off the bench," said Sullivan, whose bench outscored Holy Cross', 59-15. "And, they were all in the lineup at the end of the game. "

In the second half, Cole never came out after being summoned at the 18:48 mark, while Hubly played the final 15:47 and Butcher the last 13:22.

The Saints (5-16, 1-2) also received solid contributions from starters Greg Leavell (Schoolcraft College/Farmington Hills, MI) (12 points), Andrew Fair (Olive-Harvey College/Chicago, IL) (9) and Ryan Gunderson (Ottawa H.S./Ottawa, IL) (7) in snapping a 5-game losing streak and gaining their first league win of the season.

Holy Cross (3-18, 0-6) stayed close for much of the contest, including having 5- and 4-point leads in the first half before USF went on a 9-0 run late to take a 41-37 lead into the break.

The hosts gained brief 1-point leads twice in the second half, the last time coming at 48-47 with 15:09 remaining, before the Saints finally gained some distance beginning at the 10:25 mark. That is when the Saints started a 10-2 run to open a 69-58 advantage, one that they would extend to as high as 17 points, 85-68, with just over one minute remaining in the contest.

"The difference in the game was our zone defense in the second half," continued Sullivan. "We had to contain (Justin Breveard) in the second half and we did.

"That and we took better shots and better care of the ball."

USF's 50.8 percent shooting effort for the game and only 10 turnovers on the afternoon resulted in a near-doubling of its point total from earlier in the week when the Saints dropped a 60-45 decision to NAIA I No.19 Olivet Nazarene.

"It was good to get a win," closed Sullivan, whose team held Holy Cross to 37.9 percent shooting, including 31 percent after the break.