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Goshen College

Men's Basketball

Newson's Second Double-Double Of Weekend Highlights OT Loss In Illinois

Box Score

JOLIET, Ill. — Despite having five players score in double figures for the second consecutive game, Goshen College watched a potential game-winning shot miss the mark in a 93-91 overtime defeat at 19th-ranked Saint Francis of Illinois on Sunday in non-conference men's basketball.

The Maple Leafs (8-5) led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Saints (7-5) used a 9-2 run in the last three minutes to close within 41-40 at halftime.

GC was held scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the second half, falling behind 55-49 with 13:34 left, but came back to tie the game on four different occasions.

The Saints pulled ahead 77-73 when Iain Morrison scored at the 1:14 mark, but a Conner Funkhouser 3-pointer cut the lead to a point just 12 seconds later. After two USF misses sandwiched around an offensive rebound on the other end, Devin Heath-Granger was fouled with 18 seconds to play. The junior made one of the two foul shots to tie the score and the game went to overtime tied at 77.

The teams combined to make just one basket in the first 3:30 of the five-minute extra session, but the Saints got a 3-pointer from Jorden Thornton to match their largest lead of the game at 84-78 with 1:22 remaining. Goshen made its next six shots from the floor, but those were countered by a 9-for-10 streak at the free-throw line that left USF's lead at 93-88 with 15 seconds left.

Christian Grider drained a 3-pointer to close Goshen within two points, and a foul sent the Saints back to the foul line with seven seconds left. For the first time all day, the hosts missed both shots, giving GC the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Billy Geschke's 3-pointer missed giving Goshen its third top-25 victory of the season.

Saint Francis finished the day with an 86.1 percent clip (31-for-36) at the foul line, making up for a 37.9 percent mark (14-for-37) from the floor in the second half and overtime. Goshen hit 52.8 percent (20-for-38) of its shots from the field after halftime and came out ahead 40-37 on the glass.

Heath-Granger led GC with 17 points, making eight of his 15 shots to go with four rebounds and two assists. For the first time this season, he did not lead the team in assists: that honor went to Grider, Xavier Newson and Dominique Cartier, who had three each. Newson and Grider each added 15 points while Newson paced the Maple Leafs with 10 rebounds, earning his second straight double-double.

Iain Morison led USF with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting while teammate Logan Timmons led all players with 13 rebounds alongside 16 points.

The Maple Leafs host IU Kokomo at 7 p.m. Monday.

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