It’s a good thing nobody in the standing-room crowd of nearly 3,300 left St. Xavier University early Friday night after Brother Rice went ahead by 27 points.
They would have missed a stirring comeback attempt by Leo, which came within six before finally succumbing 67-60 in a Catholic League South battle for first place.
It’s also a good thing this longtime, South Side rivalry was moved to St. Xavier or 2,500 fans would’ve missed out on an entertaining showdown.
No. 5 Brother Rice (16-1, 8-0) did everything right for almost three quarters, building a 50-23 lead behind junior point guard Bobby Frasor.
Frasor finished with 20 points, eight assists, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
“We figured Leo would give up, and we became lackadaisical,” Frasor said. “They started pressing, and we started making mistakes.”
Led by Frank Clair (15 points, seven rebounds) along with Alan Downing and Keelan Donald with 11 points apiece, the No. 19 Lions (12-4, 5-1) went on a scintillating 29-8 run from late in the third quarter until 2 minutes 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter when a pair of Clair free throws made it 58-52.
“We fought back, and in the second half we started playing defense,” Leo coach Noah Cannon said. “We’ve got to be hungry from the beginning.”
As if he hadn’t done enough, Frasor was switched from his midcourt position on the Crusaders’ press-breaker to catching the inbounds pass and breaking the press himself. Frasor’s five points in the last two minutes helped steady Brother Rice.
“We showed how good we can be, and I was pleased with Adam Gregoriou (10 rebounds),” said Rice coach Pat Richardson of his 6-foot-4-inch junior center who celebrated his 17th birthday with one of his best outings.
Gregoriou also held the 6-6 Northern Illinois-bound Clair scoreless until late in the third quarter.
Three-point shooters Dave Telander (12 points) and Tim Harrigan (11) demonstrated their shooting prowess from NBA three-point range. And setting them up much of the time was Frasor.
