Basketball Recap: Israel Wilson Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat St. Francis

St. Mary hadn't done well against St. Francis recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The St. Mary's Lancers came out on top against the St. Francis Red Raiders by a score of 72-59. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Lancers.

St. Mary's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Israel Wilson, who went 9 for 18 on his way to 25 points and five rebounds. The game was Wilson's third in a row with at least ten points. James Engelbach-Schafer was another key player, dropping a double-double on ten points and 14 rebounds.

St. Mary's smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive contests.

When it comes to explaining why St. Francis lost, don't look at Matthew Zielinski. Despite the final result, he went 9 of 13 on his way to 20 points. Those 20 points gave Zielinski a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Roberts, who posted eight points and seven assists.

St. Mary's is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.2 points per game. As for St. Francis, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-3.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. St. Mary's will host Nichols at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Nichols knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past four games -- so hopefully St. Mary's likes a good challenge. As for St. Francis, they will welcome Canisius at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Canisius is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67.5 points per game this season.