A total of 10 players scored in double-digits on Wednesday night (Dec. 4) in Adrian, as the Aquinas men's basketball team dropped a road contest to Siena Heights by an 85-79 final score. AQ cut a 16-point second half deficit to just four points in the final minute, but ran out of steam and could not complete the comeback in the Battle of the Saints.
 
Four Aquinas players reached double figures on Wednesday in the team's second-highest scoring game of the season, with the season-high 84 points coming just five days ago in a win over Calvin. The Saints drop to 2-10 on the season and 0-4 in WHAC play, while Siena Heights improves to 5-6 overall and 3-2 in league action.
 
Both teams shot the ball well on Wednesday night, with each team netting 43 points in the second half after Siena Heights took a 42-36 lead to the intermission. For the game, Aquinas shot 40.8 percent from the field and were a strong 10-of-24 from three-point range. SHU shot 55.6 percent on field goals and 7-of-17 from long distance.
 
The teams made several visits to the charity stripe, with AQ going 11-of-18 and Siena Heights hitting 18-of-24 free throws. SHU held a slight 38-33 rebounding advantage and similar close edges in bench points (36-33), second chance points (13-12), and points in the paint (38-34). Aquinas scored 11 of the game's 17 fast break points.
 
Jesse Hillis and Davion Benton posted team-highs of 16 points apiece. Hillis was 6-of-15 from the field and made a pair of three-pointers, while adding three steals and three assists. Benton completed his double-double with 11 rebounds (five offensive) and going 7-of-10 from the field in just 18 minutes.
 
Justin Lary produced a solid statline with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, as he was 5-of-10 from the field and knocked down a pair of triples. Beau LePage was 4-of-7 on three-point attempts and posted 12 points from long distance. Andrew Myers passed for 10 assists and scored eight points, while making 5-of-6 free throws.
 
Gabe Overway chipped in six points, four rebounds, and two steals, while Deric Murray grabbed three steals in eight minutes. 
 
Back-to-back-to-back layups from Benton, Murray, and Hillis gave AQ its largest lead of the game, a 24-13 score at the 10:59 mark of the opening half. Siena Heights put together a comeback and went in front 28-27 with six minutes remaining, only to see the visiting Saints answer with a three-pointer from Hillis and a layup from Lary to make it 32-28.
 
SHU again fought back and used a 14-4 run to bring a 42-36 cushion to halftime. The home Saints continued to roll into the second half, pushing their lead to 59-43 with 9:16 to play in the game. 
 
Lary knocked down a triple at the 3:04 mark to get the score back into single-digits at 70-62, but Siena Heights responded with consecutive layups to keep the advantage at a dozen points. In the final minute, LePage connected on three three-pointers in a 30-second span and lowered the deficit to just four points, but SHU hit a pair of free throws and a layup to preserve the win.
 
AQ returns home for Saturday's (Dec. 7) matchup against Lawrence Tech at 3:00 p.m. The doubleheader is the third annual Holiday Hoops event, with Christmas festivities featured prior to and during both games and Santa visiting from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.