The Aquinas men's basketball team shot 50.0 percent from the field and put four players in double-digits to earn a hard-fought 81-78 overtime victory at Rochester on Saturday evening (Dec. 14). AQ recorded its second win in a row thanks to a big second half and four big free throws in the closing 30 seconds of overtime to preserve the victory.
 
It was the second consecutive game and the third time in the last five outings that Aquinas has eclipsed the 80-point mark. AQ improves to 4-10 overall and 2-4 in WHAC play, while Rochester dips to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in league action. Saturday's win comes one week after the Saints dominated Lawrence Tech to the tune of an 81-59 conference victory in the Sturrus Center.
 
One week later, AQ again connected for 81 points, but had to play an extra five minutes to collect the win. It was the first overtime win for Aquinas since Nov. 1, 2017, when the Saints won at IU Northwest by an 89-80 final.
 
Despite trailing 35-25 at halftime, AQ bounced back and shot 54.5 percent in the second half with a 7-for-14 mark from three-point range. Andrew Myers notched a game-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. As a team, Rochester totaled eight assists; Myers had eight assists on his own, to go with four rebounds.
 
Davion Benton logged a double-double in 41 minutes, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and posting 16 points and 11 rebounds (four offensive). Justin Lary made 4-of-6 three-pointers and tallied 14 points in 26 minutes, while Jesse Hillis recorded 12 points and four rebounds, shooting 5-of-8 from the field. 
 
Gabe Overway notched eight points and five rebounds in 31 minutes, while Beau LePage knocked down a pair of three-pointers for his six points. Overall, Aquinas finished 11-of-23 from three-point range in the game. 
 
The Saints limited Rochester to 42.9 percent from the field and just 7-of-24 from three-point range. Both teams pulled down 31 rebounds. Rochester led in points off turnovers (19-14), as AQ committed 17 turnovers and RU made just 11 miscues. The Saints tallied a 30-22 advantage in points in the paint. 
 
Rochester jumped out to a 20-8 cushion midway through the first half, but Aquinas chipped away and made it a 23-20 score after consecutive buckets from Overway and a Myers trifecta nearing the five-minute mark. The Warriors responded with a 12-5 run to close the half and took a 35-25 lead to the intermission.
 
Aquinas trailed 39-29 early in the second half, but the Saints got hot from beyond the three-point line. Lary buried a trifecta, followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Myers in a 27-second span to make it a 39-38 score. Benton converted a layup and Myers hit a triple for a 43-42 lead before made three consecutive three-pointers to push AQ to a 52-42 edge.
 
Deric Murray scored on a layup with 5:17 to play for a 66-59 lead, but Rochester's defense would get stingy and the home Warriors outscored AQ 10-3 over the remainder of the half, sending the game to overtime tied at 69-all.
 
Rochester led 73-71 in the extra session,  but Benton made a pair of layups around a Hillis layup for a 77-73 advantage with under two minutes to go. Murray and Hillis each knocked down a pair of freebies in the final 30 seconds and Rochester's final three-pointer was off target, sealing the win for the visitors.
 
Aquinas' next two games are exhibition contests. The Saints head across town to face Davenport on Tuesday (Dec. 17) and to Kalamazoo to square off with Western Michigan on Wednesday (Dec. 18).