The Aquinas men's basketball team gave Saints fans a present as they head into the Christmas break, coming out on top of a 88-72 final this afternoon at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center. The Saints were able to take down a tough Grace Christian team that had already beaten WHAC foes Indiana Tech and Siena Heights this year. The win improves the Saints' record to 5-10 on the year.

Aquinas was victorious in game that could be summed up with one word: runs. The Saints opened the game with a 21-4 lead after a 19-0 run spear-headed by the outside shooting of Jesse Hillis and Andrew Myers. However, what looked like a blowout quickly turned into a ball game thanks to a 20-2 run of their own by the visiting Tigers. After Grace Christian took the lead 24-23, the two teams traded the lead back and forth, with the Tigers holding a 36-33 lead at the break.

The Saints came out of the gates swinging in the second-half, using a 10-0 run to start the half to take a 43-36 lead. After the Tigers answered with a three-pointer three minutes into the half, the Saints went on another 10-0 run to take a 14 point lead just five minutes into the half. The Saints lead would grow to as much as 17 halfway through the period, but the Tigers would chip away until they got it down to single-digits again. With the lead sitting at just six, Jesse Hillis made a pair of buckets to take the lead to double-digits, and a pair of Justin Lary three-pointers put the game away with just over two minutes left. A dunk by Davion Benton and a final triple by DeShawn Lewis capped off the big 16-point victory for the Saints.

Aquinas put up 55 second-half points on a blistering 21-26 (81%) shooting performance from the field over the final 20 minutes. They also nailed four of seven threes in the second-half. The Saints limited the Tigers to just 39% shooting and scored 26 points off of 16 GCU turnovers. Aquinas got 30 points off the bench, lead by 18 from Deric Murray, who was 7-9 from the field, and added three rebounds, a block and a steal.

The Saints were led by a monster effort by Davion Benton, who posted another double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Both were game highs. The junior forward finished the game shooting 10-13 from the field and 7-10 from the charity stripe, while adding four assists and four steals. Two other Saints joined Benton and Murray in double-figures with Jesse Hillis putting up 11 and Andrew Myers adding 10. Hillis added six assists while Myers did a bit of everything, dishing out seven assists and pulling down six rebounds with three steals to go with his 10 points. Freshman Gabe Overway pulled down a career-best eight rebounds inside for the Saints. 

Aquinas, winners of three straight games now, is off for Christmas and will return to the court next Saturday when they host Calument St. Joseph's at the Sturrus Center. Tip off is scheduled for 3:00 pm on December 28th.