ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) men's basketball competed at the Faith Works Classic hosted by Rochester Christian University on November 8-9. 

The Cougars dropped a close matchup against the host Warriors on Friday before earning a 90-60 win over Cleary on Saturday. 

ROCHESTER CHRISTIAN 79, SAINT FRANCIS 73

The Warriors jumped out to an early 19-9 lead at the 11:32 mark of the opening half of Friday night's game. The Cougars answered with an 11-0 run to take a 20-19 lead at the 8:39 mark. Rochester Christian retook the lead with 4:20 left to play in the first period. The Warriors would extend their lead to 36-24 at halftime. 

After Rochester Christian had a 47-36 lead with just over 14 minutes left to play in the second half, the Cougars responded to cut the Warriors' lead to eight points. USF would try to put a rally together after Rochester Christian took a 67-78 lead with just 18 seconds to play, but the Cougars would fall short as the Warriors won Friday night's game 79-73. 

As a team, Saint Francis shot 40% (22-55) from the field and outrebounded the Warriors 34-27. Branden Northern led USF with 26 points and three assists. Luke Almodovar shot 60% (3-5) from three-point range as the sophomore guard finished the night with 18 points. Joe Reidy added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds against the Warriors.

SAINT FRANCIS 90, CLEARY 60

Saint Francis took an early 24-9 lead at the 12:05 mark of the first half. The Cougars would outscore Cleary 44-32 for the first-half lead. 

A layup from Almodovar would give USF a 30-point lead with less than eight minutes left to play in the second half. The Cougars would maintain the lead throughout the remainder of the game and would hold off Cleary for the 90-60 win to improve to 5-1 on the season.

The Cougars shot 37.1% (23-62) from the field and outscored their opponent in the paint 52-28. Almodovar shot 10-14 from the field and 4-6 from deep en route to a team-high 25 points on Saturday. Isaiah Malone finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Zane Burke and Northern each had 12 points against Cleary. Northern also had six assists and four steals. 

Up next, USF men's basketball (5-1) will travel to Indiana University South Bend on November 13 before hosting Indiana Tech on November 16 in the Cougars' home opener starting at 3:00 p.m.

Cougar fans can stay updated on all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com.