FORT WAYNE, Ind. - On Saturday afternoon the University of Saint Francis Cougars (5-3; 0-2 Crossroads) traveled to Kingsport, Tennessee over the weekend to compete in "NAIA The Show 2022" with their first game against William Jessup (5-4) and prevailed 77-65.

After a couple of rough losses in their first two games of Crossroads League play, the Cougars were anxious to rebound and get back to their winning ways down in Tennessee.

Opening the game saw a back-and-forth dogfight between the two teams. Jessup opened with a 9-4 lead in the game's first three minutes, but the Cougars answered right back chipping away to trail by just one, and then both defenses stepped up for the next several minutes.

Halfway through the first half the Cougars still trailed 19-17, but then a three-pointer by senior guard Dan McKeeman ignited the Cougars and put them in the lead 20-19 for the first time in the game. From there the seesaw battle continued.

Saint Francis trailed again by four points on several ocassions in the final minutes of the first half, but stayed resilient and scored four unanswered points to tie the game at 39 going into halftime.

Heading into the second half, Jessup went on to score 12 unanswered points themselves to put Saint Francis back behind this time by 12 points to open the frame. Down but not out the Cougars began to mount their comeback. 

A couple of clutch three-pointers by McKeeman and junior guard Brayton Bailey pulled the Cougars to within one and then they regained a one-point lead and then began to build upon that as Saint Francis scored 13 unanswered points themselves keeping Jessup off-balanced.

Although Jessup did fight back to tie the score once more, the Cougars rode their momentum all the way to the finish. Saint Francis made the free throws they needed to make and earned a hard-fought 12-point comeback victory.

Throughout the game, the Cougars shot 42 percent from the floor, 33 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 84 percent from the free throw line. Dan McKeeman led the Cougars in scoring with 25 points and also had three steals and six rebounds while sophomore guard Zane Burke chipped in with 16 points and seven rebounds of his own while Brayton Bailey had a team-leading 11 rebounds.

The Cougars resume play on Sunday afternoon with their second and final game of the NAIA show against the Union College Bulldogs (7-0) beginning at 2:30 pm. 

Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.