Titans Close Strong to Beat Saint Xavier at Home, Improve to 2-1 in CCAC Play
SOUTH BEND — In a game that featured nine lead changes and ten ties, IU South Bend delivered in the clutch, knocking off Saint Xavier 75-72 on Tuesday night inside the Student Activities Center.
With the Titans leading 71-69 in the final minute, sophomore Ethan Hill cut backdoor and finished a perfectly timed pass from CJ Hornbeak to push the advantage to four with 16 seconds remaining. After a late Saint Xavier three trimmed the lead to one possession, Hornbeak stepped to the line and calmly sank two free throws with three seconds left to seal the win.
Hornbeak finished with 16 points and six assists, shooting a perfect 7-for-7 at the free-throw line, including four makes in the final two minutes. Speaking after the game, Hornbeak said, “Yea, I feel good. I knew I had to take my time and focus to hit those last shots to win the game.”
The Titans (3-4, 2-1 CCAC) leaned on their depth, getting 38 bench points, highlighted by Ethan Hill’s 16 points and four rebounds and AJ Dunn’s 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from three. Hill scored 10 of his 16 in the second half and made three huge baskets down the stretch, including his layup off Hornbeak’s assist with :16 left.
Kyle Olagbegi added nine points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Kyle Millender chipped in seven points and three boards off the bench. James Stevenson added a spark as well with four points, three assists, and three rebounds.
IU South Bend shot 46.6 percent from the field and an impressive 88.2 percent at the free-throw line, while holding Saint Xavier to 40.0 percent shooting. The Titans also controlled the interior with a 42-30 advantage in points in the paint and a 36-31 edge on the glass.
After last weekend’s narrow loss, Hornbeak stressed how much this win meant, “We just wanted to win. We lost last Saturday and we should not have lost that game, so we knew coming into this one we had to win with our defense. We were very competitive with them.”
He also had high praise for Dunn, who hit a trio of momentum-shifting threes in the second half, “I love AJ. He’s a great shooter, he plays hard, he’s good on defense, good on offense, and tonight he knocked down some big shots that we needed.”
IU South Bend returns to conference play after the Thanksgiving break, hitting the road on Saturday, December 6 for a bout against St. Ambrose at 4:00 pm.