Elgin, Ill.- Down five at the half, Judson University (9-6 / 2-0 CCAC) started the second half on a 17-0 run to take a 12-point lead, 53-41, en route to an 83-75 win over Cardinal Stritch University (7-11 / 0-2 CCAC). JU was down by as many as eight in the first half before making their run in the second.
Judson’s Justen Boyd led all scorers with 26 points, two shy of his career high. He also had six assists and only one turnover. Illija Bojanic added 22 with five assists and two blocks. Ian Dobbe was the leading scorer for CSU.
Hitting their first five shots of the game to take a 12-4 lead, Judson started on fire. Dewayne Robinson hit the first bucket just 30 seconds in followed by a three-pointer by Steffan Williams just 27 seconds later. Bojanic made it 7-4 and then a Joe Gonnam 3-pointer put JU ahead, 10-4. With 16:52 left in the half, Boyd took a pass from Bojanic on a fast brake to make it 12-4.
CSU’s offense then came alive and put together a 17-4 run to take a five-point lead, 21-16. In the run, JU missed six of their eight shots. The run did not phase Judson as the Eagles answered with their own 10-1 run in less than two minutes for another four-point lead, 26-22. In the next two minutes, CSU countered with a 9-0 run for a five-point lead, 31-26.
Judson never saw the lead again in the half. CSU moved their lead to eight, 39-31, with 2:07 left in the half. JU cut the lead to four, 40-36, on a three-pointer by Chris Oates with 37 seconds left but CSU’s Trey Triplett hit one of two free throws to end the half with a five-point advantage.
CSU slowly cut Judson’s lead down to eight, 58-50, on a 7-0 run in two minutes. JU pushed their lead back to 12, 65-53, with 8:59 remaining on a Bojanic free throw. With 8:04 left in the game, Joe Gonnam gave JU a 14-point lead. JU also had a 14-point lead, 75-61, on an Oates three-pointer with 5:23 to go in the game.
Not giving up, CSU had a 12-4 run in the next four minutes to bring the score to 79-73. This was as close as they would get as Judson made two free throws and then converted a fast break for a 10-point lead in just 22 seconds. CSU’s Mark Matsen made a layup to end the game to make it, 83-75.
The win breaks a three-game losing streak to CSU and puts JU at 2-0 in the CCAC. This is also the second game in a row that JU shot over 40% from the 3-point line.
Judson finished shooting 52% from the floor and 42% from three-point range while making 9-of-16 from the foul line. CSU went 15-of-19 (78%) from the stripe and made 44% from the floor and 24% from beyond the arc. CSU out rebounded JU, 40-27, and forced 22 Judson turnovers. JU had nine steals to counter CSU’s six steals.
Judson will host Purdue-Calumet at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 16th, at the Lindner Fitness Center.
| Lewis University at | 2:00pm |
| Judson | CST |
| Scrimmage | |
