FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) Cougars had their hands full on this Wednesday evening matchup. The Cougars needed this win to solidify a spot for the NAIA National Tournament and Crossroads Tournament. USF took on the Grace College Lancers at the Hutzell Athletic Center in a highly contested Crossroads League matchup. Overall, the Cougars are now 13-14 and 6-11 in the conference. They were on the losing end in the contest with a final score of 103-79against a top-ranked team in the country in Grace. 

USF started the game falling behind as the first half was winding down. At the 14-minute mark, Grace increased their lead 19-9. The Lancers didn't seem to let up and proved to USF that they were ranked top in the country for a reason. Grace shot 48.1% from three-point range. USF shootingguard, Charlie Yoder, led the scoring for USFscoring 24 points and 7 rebounds going 14-14 from the free throw line. The Cougars also had a great showing from Luke Almodovar scoring 19 points shooting 50% from field goal range. USF got outrebounded by the Lancers by 16 rebounds (43-27). Grace had 4 guys get into double digits with twin brothers, Cade and Jakob Gibbs scoring 17 points each, while NAIA All-American Elijah Malone contributed 16 points and 8 boards. 

The Cougars are back in action this weekend for Crossroads League play this Saturday, February 24th. USF will travel to Michigan and take on the Spring Arbor Cougars at 3:00 PM as they aim to take down SAU in a big Crossroads contest.

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