SPRING ABROR, MI. -- The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) Cougars took on the Spring Arbor Cougars in an afternoon matchup with both teams fighting for a higher seed in the conference tournament and a NAIA tournament bid. The Cougars needed this win to solidify a spot for the NAIA National Tournament.  Unfortunately, they were on the losing end in the contest today with a final score of 93-81. Overall, the Cougars are now 13-15 and 6-12 in the conference. 

USF and SAU were tightly matched up in the first half until around 3 minutes to go. SAU increased their lead to 9 on a Travis Grayson 2 pt. bucket. USF couldn't quite regain momentum in the second half but fought hard to keep competing. SAU shot 55.9% from field-goal range. USF point guard, Branden Northern, led the scoring for USF scoring 19 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds going 8-14 from the field goal range. The Cougars had five total guys scoring in double-digits as Zane Burke, Charlie Yoder, and Isaiah Malone all scoring 10 points. Dorean Sanders was a spark off the bench going 3-4 from three-point range. USF got out-rebounded by SAU by 13 (36-23). SAU had 4 guys get into double digits with Travis Grayson scoring 19 points and 10 assists, while big man Gabe Newhof added 18 points and 7 boards going 6-8 from the field.

The Cougars ended regular season play this afternoon and will now look forward to playing on the road this Wednesday, February 28^th, opening up the Crossroads League Tournament. Stay tuned to where they will be for the opening round!

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