Kankakee Times

A career night for Sam Emich helped the Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team take down the league-leading Roosevelt Lakers 81-77 in McHie Arena Wednesday night.

Emich, a junior forward from Copley, Ohio in his first season for the Purple and Yellow Gold, dropped in a career-best 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 clip from deep  Emich also got it done on the glass, bringing down a game-high 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season.

Roosevelt (13-7, 10-2 CCAC) took control of the game early, jumping out to a double-digit lead within the first five minutes of play. The Tigers trailed by as many as 14 in the first half and were down 36-24 with four minutes to go in the opening half. Emich pieced together five-straight points from the free-throw line before throwing down a dunk to cut the deficit to single digits at the break.

It only took the Tigers five minutes in the second half. Emich kicked off the Tiger scoring with seven-straight points to ignite a game-altering 18-4 for ONU. Landon Pflederer closed out the spurt with a three-pointer that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, and then extended that lead on the next possession with a fastbreak and-one layup that put ONU up 51-47.

Maurice Commander, who led the Lakers in scoring with 31, hit a fadeaway jumped to tie the game at 57 at the midway point of the second half. But Emich and Tyler Schmidt would combine for seven-straight points to give the Tigers a lead that they would hold on to for the remainder of the game. Pflederer knocked down five free throws in the final minute to seal the game for ONU.

Pflederer finished with 20 points while Schmidt filled in 16. Braydon Flagg chipped in six off the bench. 

The Tigers improved their shooting clip from 44-percent in the first half to better than 62-percent in the second half, outscoring the Lakers by 11 over the final 20 minutes.

ONU, now 15-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play, moves into the top spot in the CCAC standings.

GAME VITALS

Final: Olivet Nazarene 81, Roosevelt 77

Records: Olivet Nazarene 15-5 (10-2 CCAC) | Roosevelt 13-7 (10-2 CCAC)

Location: McHie Arena | Olivet Nazarene University | Bourbonnais, Ill.

QUICK HITS

• Sam Emich finished with career highs in points (30) and rebounds (11) to record his first double-double of the season.

• Landon Pflederer (20) and Tyler Schmidt (16) both finished in double-figures. 

• The Tigers shot at a 53.1-percent clip from the floor and shot 7-of-13 from deep.

• ONU dished out 18 assists to Roosevelt's nine.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers will hit the road to take on the Holy Cross Saints in Notre Dame, Ind. on Saturday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. CST following the women's game.

Original source can be found here