CHICAGO – Graduate student forward Lee Fisher (Dolton, IL/Northern Illinois) (Dolton, Ill.) tallied a double-double of 19 points and a game-high 16 rebounds in leading Chicago State men's basketball to a 76-65 win over visiting St. Ambrose in its exhibition finale Monday night at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.
The hosts opened the game with an 11-4 run in the first five minutes before the Fighting Bee posted a 21-10 run over a 10-minute stretch to capture a 24-21 lead with 4:53 left in the half that was capped by a three-pointer from senior Chris Donnelly.
The Green and White closed out the half by scoring eight of the final 12 points with senior Ardarius Simmons (Chicago, IL/Southeastern (IA) CC) (Chicago, Ill.) scoring five of those points, including a jumper with six seconds remaining, to enter halftime ahead by a slim 29-28 margin..
A Donnelly triple at the 19:27 mark of the second half began a quick 11-4 run for St. Ambrose that lasted nearly four minutes as it captured a 39-33 lead that concluded with a three from freshman Nicholas Frazier at 15:48.
CSU then bounced back by scoring nine unanswered points, including back-to-back conventional three-point plays from junior forward Jeremy Robinson (Decatur, Ill./Eisenhower) (Decatur, Ill.), in just two minutes to regain the lead at 42-39 with 13:48 left in the stanza. Sophomore Aaron Williams (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Vocational) (Chicago, Ill.) drained a three at the 10:12 mark broke a 44-44 tie that started a 20-10 run in over six minutes that helped the Green and White take a 64-54 lead at 3:56 in regulation.
After the Fighting Bees' pulled to within six at 69-63 with 1:02 left in the half, the Cougars closed out the game with four Fisher free throws and a three-pointer from freshman Clarke Rosenberg (Skokie, Ill./Evanston Township) (Skokie, Ill.) in the final minute for the win.
Williams contributed 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-5 effort from three-point range, in 21 minutes off the bench. Robinson contributed 13 points and eight rebounds, while Simmons finished with nine points, six rebounds and four assists. Rosenberg shot 2-of-2 from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe for eight points.
Donnelly led all scorers with 21 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Frazier produced 14 points and junior Andy Supergan produced 12 points for St. Ambrose.
CSU kicks off the 2011-12 season this Friday night with a road contest at Iowa as part of the Dale Howard Classic beginning at 7 p.m.
~CSU~
