Cougars Take Down Mount Vernon Nazarene
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mount Vernon Nazarene (OH) (14-11, 4-11) | 36 | 54 | 90 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) (13-12, 6-9) | 45 | 54 | 99 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) Cougars went into the matchup Wednesday evening trying to keep their tournament hopes alive. The Cougars needed this win to solidify a spot for the NAIA National Tournament and Crossroads Tournament. USF took on the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Cougars at the Hutzell Athletic Center in a Crossroads League matchup. Overall, the Cougars are now 13-12 and 6-9 in the conference. They were victorious in the contest with a final score of 99-90 in one of their two final home games.
USF started the game on a hot start with a nine-point lead, 11-2, at the 16-minute mark on a Joey Bomba three-point bucket. The first half remained in favor of USF as they took control of the entire first half until Mt. Vernon started crawling back. Mt. Vernon started to turn up the pace as they took the cut the USF led to three with four minutes to go. USF sophomore guard, Branden Northern, controlled the flow of the game scoring 26 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds. The Cougars also were led by Charlie Yoder contributing 25 points while grabbing 12 rebounds. Joey Bomba added 18 points knocking down six three-pointers. Mt. Vernon's main scorers were Kade Ruegsegger and Trent Koning. Ruegsegger scored 18 points, while Koning led Mt. Vernon with 19 points. Mt. Vernon dropped to 14-11 and 4-11 in conference play.
The Cougars are back in action this weekend for Crossroads League play this Saturday, February 17th. USF will battle the Marian University Knights at 3:00 PM as they look to battle out a key conference opponent.
Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.
-USF Athletics/Grant Ott-Large