The Aquinas men's basketball team played the first of back-to-back exhibition games on Tuesday night (Dec. 17), as the Saints held tough against NCAA Division II Davenport before falling to the Panthers by a 75-58 final. AQ trailed by only a bucket at halftime, but DU pulled away with a strong second half to earn the exhibition victory.
 
13 different Saints played in the contest on Tuesday at the DU Student Center, with 11 AQ players reaching the scoring column. The exhibition game came after the Saints had notched wins in three of their last five games, including consecutive league victories. 
 
Aquinas will play another exhibition game on Wednesday night (Dec. 18), traveling to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan at 7:00 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN3.
 
The Saints shot 40.0 percent from the field and a strong 10-of-19 from three-point range, while also making 12-of-15 free throws. Davenport shot a little better all around, making 47.1 percent of its field goals and 12-of-26 three-point attempts. The Panthers made 15-of-20 freebies and forced AQ into 21 turnovers, on which they scored 23 points. 
 
While no Aquinas players reached double-digits, 11 players scored for the Saints, led by nine points apiece from Jesse Hillis and Beau LePage. Hillis handed out four assists and LePage made 3-of-5 three-point tries. Andrew Myers added eight points, four assists, and three steals.
 
Deric Murray scored seven points in eight minutes, while Ben Clark knocked down both three-point attempts for his six points. Davion Benton led AQ with five rebounds and scored five points.
 
Davenport led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but the Saints chipped away to a 34-32 halftime deficit. That is as close as AQ would get, as the Panthers outscored their visitors by a 41-26 margin over the final 20 minutes of the contest.