The Aquinas men's basketball team kicked off its 2019-20 season on Friday night (Oct. 25) in Marion, Ind. and the Saints were close to pulling off a huge upset against the top-ranked and defending NAIA National Champions, Spring Arbor. AQ – which led at halftime – trailed the #1 Cougars by a point with 2:44 to go, but SAU was able to outlast the Saints by a 69-64 final score.
It was the opening game of the year for both teams, playing at the Crossroads/WHAC Challenge at Indiana Wesleyan. Aquinas drops to 0-1, while Spring Arbor – the 2018-19 National Champions – is 1-0. The Saints' tough early season schedule continues on Saturday (Oct. 26), when AQ matches up with #4 Indiana Wesleyan, the 2017-18 NAIA National Champions. Tipoff on Saturday is set for 1:00 p.m.
Spring Arbor shot 53.1 percent from the field and made 7-19 three-point tries, while Aquinas shot 36.2 percent from the floor. AQ was 6-17 from downtown and went 8-12 at the line; SAU was 10-16 at the charity stripe. The Saints held a 38-31 rebounding advantage, including a massive 19-5 edge on the offensive glass.
The rebounding margins were key in keeping Aquinas in the game, as were the 13-4 edge in second chance points and the 17-4 lead in bench points. AQ forced 13 Cougar turnovers and committed just 11 miscues.
DeShawn Lewis led the Saints with 15 points, making all three of his triple tries and going 6-11 overall from the field, while adding five boards.
Davion Benton was a rebound shy of a double-double, posting 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds in his AQ debut.
Andrew Myers also had a solid debut with nine points on 4-7 shooting and three assists in 23 minutes.
Jesse Hillis recorded seven points, three boards, and two assists.
Deric Murray,
Myles Patten, and
Gabe Overway each chipped in six points. Overway grabbed five boards and Patten collected a pair of steals.
Spring Arbor was on top 17-7 just over eight minutes into the game, but consecutive buckets from Myers and Overway helped Aquinas begin its comeback.
Beau LePage hit a three-pointer at the 4:11 mark to give AQ a 26-25 advantage, the team's first lead of the game. Hillis knocked down a trifecta and hit two freebies to give the Saints the 35-34 edge at the intermission.
The Cougars regained control in the second half and led by as many as eight points (43-35, 16:10 remaining), but Myers' three-pointer at the 9:45 mark made it a 51-49 game. Benton scored a bucket with 2:44 remaining to get AQ within a point at 62-61, but Spring Arbor responded with a 5-0 run and seven of the last 10 points in the contest.
