Brackets Busted In Men's Basketball Tournament First Round
CHICAGO --- The first round of the 2025 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was nearly a complete bracket buster had it not been for top-seeded University of St. Francis (23-5) rallying in the second half to secure the lone win of the four home teams on Tuesday night.
The rest of the night saw the Nos. 2-4 seeds all go down in contests that were decided by three points or less. No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene University (16-13) notched the first upset with its 75-73 win over No. 4 Indiana University South Bend. That was followed by No. 6 seed Calumet College of St. Joseph (16-12) taking down No. 3 Saint Xavier University 73-70 and No. 7 Governors State University (14-15) outscoring No. 2 Indiana University Northwest 104-101 in overtime.
That craziness set up Calumet St. Joseph being a surprise host of a semifinal-round contest against Governors State and Olivet Nazarene heading to St. Francis on Thursday. Both games tip off at 7 pm.
Recapping Tuesday:
St. Francis 65, St. Ambrose 59
St. Francis had to rally from a nine-point, first-half deficit in order to avoid being the fourth upset victim of the night. St. Ambrose trailed by just two points with under three minutes to play, but could not get any of its three late treys to fall. Aitor Anabitarte authored a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) for St. Francis with Rahmel Davis contributing another 14 markers and seven rebounds. The Saints out-boarded SAU 46-28 and held the Fighting Bees to .385 shooting from the field (25-of-65) and .208 from long range (5-of-24).
Governors State 104, Indiana Northwest 101
Both teams had three players net at least 20 points in the high-scoring affair with Governors State needing a second-half comeback to force overtime. The Jaguars shot really well from both the field (34-of-63, .540) and from three-point range (9-of-15, .600). Indiana Northwest also posted solid numbers overall (39-of-75, .520), but was just 4-of-17 from long distance. Javon Johnson (28 points), Vincent Davis (24) and Isaiah Tolbert (20) came up big for GSU. The RedHawks were led by Trace Williams' 27 markers.
Calumet St. Joseph 73, Saint Xavier 70
Calumet St. Joseph led by ten points at the break (39-29), but had to wait until a Saint Xavier three-point attempt at the buzzer came up empty before celebrating the upset victory. CCSJ converted at a .524 clip from the field (22-of-42), but was only slightly better at the foul line (.548). Fortunately, the Crimson Wave had 42 attempts at the free-throw line and made 23. Saint Xavier struggled to find its shot all night, hitting on 24-of-63 field-goal attempts (.381), while being just 6-of-27 (.222) from three-point range. Scott Gowan and Hrvoje Majcunic (9 rebounds) each had 15 points for the winners. SXU's Sando Hill led all scorers with 27 points.
Olivet Nazarene 75, Indiana South Bend 73
Olivet Nazarene remained hot, winning for the sixth time in a row thanks to 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting from Eli Edwards. He was one of four players to score in double figures for the Tigers, who shot .534 from the field (31-of-58) and were 8-of-17 from long distance. ONU also held a 36-22 rebounding advantage. Indiana South Bend shot 50 percent both overall and from beyond the arc and .813 at the free-throw line, but still came up two points short. Nick Mullen led the Titans with 20 points.
The complete schedule and results follow:
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Game #1: No. 1 seed St. Francis 65, No. 8 seed St. Ambrose 59
Game #2: No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene 75, No. 4 seed Indiana South Bend 73
Game #3: No. 7 seed Governors State 104, No. 2 seed Indiana Northwest 101 (OT)
Game #4: No. 6 seed Calumet St. Joseph 73, No. 3 seed Saint Xavier 70
Thursday, February 27, 2025 (at site of highest remaining seed)
Game #5: No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene (16-13) at No. 1 seed St. Francis (23-5) --- 7 pm
Game #6: No. 7 seed Governors State (14-15) at No. 6 seed Calumet St. Joseph (16-12) --- 7 pm
Saturday, March 1, 2025 (at site of highest remaining seed)
Game #7: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #6 --- 7 pm CT