JOLIET - University of St. Francis led from wire-to-wire and ran away to an 80-52 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over Holy Cross College (IN) on "Pat Sullivan Night" at the USF Recreation Center.
The biggest crowd in many years was in attendance as the Saints and the University paid tribute to Sullivan who is retiring at the end of the season, his 34th as head coach of the Saints. And the crowd saw the Saints hit on all cylinders, especially in the first half as they pulled away to a 45-21 halftime lead. USF led 13-2 in the first three-and-one-half minutes of the game and never looked back.
The lead was as big as 27 in the first half at 45-18 and grew to as much as 39 points at 77-38 with 7:31 left in the game.
Four players scored in double figures for USF, topped by sophomore guard Billy Hubly (Elk Grove H.S./Elk Grove, IL) who notched 18 with all them coming in the first half. Sophomore center Bruce Watson (Schoolcraft College/Detroit, MI) finished with 17 points (including his first career 3-pointer) and shared game-high rebounding honors with 9 caroms. Junior forward Greg Leavell (Schoolcraft College/Farmington Hills, MI) added 12 points and 5 rebounds and junior point guard Andrew Fair (Olive-Harvey College/Chicago, IL) contributed 11 points and a game-high 6 assists. Freshman center Michael Cole (Manley H.S./Chicago, IL) narrowly missed a double-double as he collected 9 points and 9 rebounds. Fair and Hubly each picked up 4 steals.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and pushed USF's overall record to 7-19. The Saints are now 3-5 in CCAC play and need a home win over Indiana South Bend on Wednesday to wrap up a fourth place finish in the league and a first-round home game in the CCAC playoffs.
After the game, Sullivan addressed the crowd and was presented with a watch by USF Director of Athletics Dave Laketa. The win over Holy Cross was number 505 in Sullivan's 34-year career at St. Francis.
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