SPRING ARBOR, MI – The Spring Arbor men's basketball team traveled to Fort Wayne, Indiana on Saturday afternoon to take on Saint Francis in their regular season finale, with a crucial home Crossroads League tournament game on the line. 
 
The first half started with Saint Francis jumping out to a quick 5-2 lead, before Spring Arbor quickly responded with a 14-6 run to take a 16-11 lead into the first media timeout. Spring Arbor would keep that five-point margin, leading 23-18 after the second media break, before extending the lead to 10, 33-23 at the final media stoppage. Spring Arbor continued to stay hot for the rest of the half, breaking off an 11-3 run in the last five minutes to extend their lead to 18 heading into the locker room, 44-26. Gabe Newhof and Kevyn Robertson led the Spring Arbor offense in the stanza, with Newhof scoring 15 points, along with dishing out 4 assists, while Robertson added 10 points. 
 
Saint Francis would score the first 4 points of the second half, but once again, Spring Arbor responded with a 10-2 run to push their lead to 22 points, 54-32, with just under 14 minutes to go. Saint Francis would find some offense, going on a 16-5 run to trim the deficit to 11, 59-48 with 7:55 to go, but Spring Arbor punched back with a quick 6-0 surge to push the lead back to 17 points, 65-48, with 6:22 remaining. Saint Francis would find one more 9-2 run to trim the lead to 10 points, but that was all that they could muster, as Spring Arbor cruised for the last 4 minutes, finishing on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Dante Favor dunk in the final 60 seconds to win the regular season finale, 75-57. 
 
 
 
SCORE: Spring Arbor 75, Saint Francis 57
LOCATION: Fort Wayne, IN | Hutzell Athletic Center
RECORDS: Spring Arbor 19-9, 11-7 | Saint Francis 17-11, 10-8
 


 
 
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Leading all scorers with 25 points was Gabe Newhof, while also contributing all over the court, recording 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Newhof ends the regular season second on the Crossroads League scoring leaderboard, averaging 21.4 points per game. 
• Joining Newhof in double figures was Kevyn Robertson, who scored a season-high 22 points, along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. 
• David Cundiff played a big role off the bench for the Cougars, scoring 8 points, dishing out 4 assists, and pulling down 4 rebounds, while Travis Grayson and Shane Rykse each added 6 points apiece. Grayson also had 3 assists, a block, and a steal.
• Luke Almodovar led the scoring for Saint Francis with 19 points on 5 of 14 shooting. 
• The win gives Spring Arbor its fourth consecutive win heading into the Crossroads League tournament, and its 19^thwin in the regular season, their most regular season wins since the 2019-2020 season, where they also had 19. The Cougars are currently projected as an 11 seed in the NAIA National Tournament by naiahoopsreport.com 

TEAM STATS:
FG Percentage: Saint Francis 37.7% Spring Arbor 50.0%
3PT Percentage: Saint Francis 32.0%, Spring Arbor 28.6%
FT Percentage: Saint Francis 81.8%, Spring Arbor 62.5%
Rebounds: Saint Francis 29, Spring Arbor 25
Assists: Saint Francis 8, Spring Arbor 14
Turnovers: Saint Francis 16, Spring Arbor 12
Points off Turnovers: Bethel 6, Spring Arbor 22
2^nd Chance Points: Bethel 10, Spring Arbor 12
Bench Points: Bethel 28, Spring Arbor 14
Points in Paint: Bethel 20, Spring Arbor 50
 
 
 
Next Up: 
After finishing with a 11-7 conference record, The Cougars have earned the fourth seed in the Crossroads League tournament and will host a first round game against the fifth seed, Indiana Wesleyan, at American 1 Credit Union Arena on Tuesday, February 25^th. Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM.