CHICAGO – Senior David Holston (Pontiac, MI/Avondale HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) recorded a game-high 32 points en route to becoming Chicago State's all-time NCAA Division I scoring lead as the Cougars (1-0) posted a 112-83 win over Saint Xavier (2-3) in their season opener Friday afternoon at the Emil and Patricia A. Jones Convocation Center. Holston has now recorded 1,533 points for his career, surpassing former CSU standout Royce Parran's total of 1,510 points.
Chicago State bounced back from an early 3-2 deficit in the first minute of the game with a 14-3 run which lasted nearly four minutes to claim a 16-6 advantage at the 15:09 mark after a conventional three-point play by sophomore Hajji Martin (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.). Three-pointers from senior Nick Wirth and sophomore Mike Johnstone along with a bucket from senior Rob Broughton helped the visitors close CSU's lead down to 17-16 with 13:06 remaining in the stanza. A rare four-point play from sophomore Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) sparked a 40-20 run over nine minutes to extend the CSU Cougars lead to 57-36. During the decisive run, Holston nailed his third trey at the 7:18 mark to set the new scoring mark. Chicago State finished the half by scoring six of the final eight points of the half to go into intermission with a 63-38 lead.
The CSU Cougars extended their advantage in the second half to as many as 31 points and scored their 100th point at the 8:31 mark on a jumper from senior Mike Wilson (New York, NY/Mt. San Jacinto CC) (New York, N.Y.).
"Today was a great team effort. It was our first chance to see where we are as a team. I was pleased with our focus and intesnsity," second-year head coach Benjy Taylor said.
Sophomore Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Palos Heights, Ill.) added a double-double of 23 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks for CSU. Montgomery finished the game going 8-of-8 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Senior John Cantrell (Pontiac, MI/Northern HS) (Pontiac, Mich.) contributed 15 points and senior Tawrence Walton (Chicago, IL/Kennedy-King College) (Chicago, Ill.) added 10 points with seven caroms.
Senior Amir Resic paced Saint Xavier with 21 points, which included going 5-of-7 from three-point range, in 27 minutes off the bench. Senior Rob Broughton recorded a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards. Senior Paris Davis and freshman Julian Scott each added 11 points.
The Cougars return to action on Monday as they travel to Milwaukee for a Chicago Invitational Challenge contest against 16th-ranked Marquette at the Bradley Center with a start time of 7 p.m.
~ CSU ~
