The Aquinas men's basketball team played a complete game on Wednesday night (Nov. 6) in Chicago, Ill., as the Saints cruised to a 67-40 non-conference win at Roosevelt. 13 Saints saw action in the victory and 10 AQ players reached the scoring column in a game Aquinas led for the final 37 minutes. 
 
It was the first win of the 2019-20 season for Aquinas (1-3), which played two of the top-four teams in the country on the opening weekend and followed with an IU-Northwest team last Saturday that was just outside the top-25. Among those games was a five-point loss and a four-point defeat, but the Saints took an early lead on Wednesday night and rolled to the 27-point triumph over the 0-3 Lakers.
 
Overall, AQ shot 46.2 percent from the field and held Roosevelt to a 29.8 field goal percentage. The Saints went 6-of-18 from three-point range and 13-of-18 at the charity stripe. Aquinas won the rebounding battle 38-30 and forced 20 Laker turnovers.
 
The 40 points allowed by the AQ defense are the fewest since a 73-39 home victory over Lourdes on Jan. 17, 2018.
 
Three AQ players reached double-figures, led by Deric Murray's 19 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Murray shot 8-of-14 from the field and pulled down five rebounds. Gabe Overway put together his best effort in an AQ uniform with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, along with five rebounds in just 16 minutes. DeShawn Lewis also recorded 12 points and five boards, as he made all four free throws and went 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
 
Andrew Myers and Davion Benton each chipped in six points; Myers went 4-for-4 at the line and passed for four assists, while Benton shot 3-of-6 from the field. Jesse Hillis led AQ in both rebounds (six) and assists (five), while Myles Patten contributed four points and four rebounds. Malik Jones handed out four assists and picked up four steals in 20 minutes off the bench.
 
Lewis made a three-pointer to give Aquinas a 5-3 lead at the 17:40 mark of the first half and the Saints would not trail again. Leading 7-4, Murray notched 11 consecutive points for a personal 11-0 run over nearly six minutes of action. Benton scored on a layup right before the halftime buzzer for a 25-12 score at intermission. 
 
Any thoughts of a Roosevelt comeback were quickly diminished over the opening five minutes of the second half. Overway sandwiched a jumper and a layup around a Hillis three-pointer to make it a 32-12 cushion. The 13-0 surge continued on back-to-back triples from Lewis and Justin Lary for the 38-12 advantage with 15:12 remaining. Roosevelt would get no closer than 18 points the remainder of the game.
 
After four consecutive games away from home, the Saints will take the floor in the Sturrus Center on Monday night (Nov. 11) against St. Francis (Ill.). Tipoff for the home opener is set for 7:00 p.m.