In a tight game that came down to the final shot, the Saint Louis Crusaders remain undefeated by squeezing out a victory over the Saint Francis Saints in the championship game of the Walter Wong Invitational. Saint Louis had not won its own Walter Wong tournament in over 20 years, and were ecstatic to be able to bring the trophy back to Kalaepōhaku.

The first half was a back and forth battle between the two, but the Crusaders got the edge going into halftime, leading 27-23. As the second half progressed, the game was close, but the Saints started to pull away. With 4 minutes left to play, Saint Francis had a comfortable 8-point lead, however, that lead would not last. With the final two minutes of the game winding down, the Crusaders Trey Taba, who lead his team with 16 points, had a dunk and a 3-pointer on back to back possessions. Saint Louis eventually got the lead back, leading 56-53, with about 30 seconds remaining. Saint Francis’ Kordel Ng, who had a game high 21 points, then came down the court, and hit a 3-point shot to tie the game at 56 with 14 seconds left. The Crusaders got the ball back, but missed 2 shots at the endof regulation to send the game in to overtime.

In an overtime with the rules of first to 3 points wins, Senior Liloa Kapiko hit two baskets for 4 (of his 11) points to propel the Crusaders to victory. SaintLouis finished its preseason going 7-0, and opens up their regular season at a familiar Saint Francis, on January 5.