The Aquinas men's basketball team dropped a road WHAC contest on Wednesday night (Jan. 15) in Lima, Ohio, as the Saints fell to UNOH by a 75-68 final. The score was tied at 59-all with 5:24 to play, but the Racers outscored AQ 16-9 over the last five minutes to earn the league victory.
 
After winning four straight games from Dec. 7 to Dec. 28, the Saints have dropped four WHAC games in a row in 2020, coming by margins of just seven, nine, three, and seven points. Overall, AQ is 6-14 on the season and 2-8 in WHAC play, while UNOH improves to 5-14 overall and 2-8 in league action.
 
The Saints were unable to pick up the road win despite 46 combined points from Deric Murray and Jesse Hillis. After a career-high 27 points just two days ago at #24 Cornerstone, Murray recorded 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and added three rebounds and three assists in just 25 minutes off the bench.
 
Hillis shot 7-of-15 from the field and went 4-of-8 from downtown, while making both free throw attempts. He supplied six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 37 active minutes. It was the 10th double-digit scoring effort for both Murray and Hillis this season. 
 
Davion Benton fell a bucket short of a double-double, posting 10 rebounds, eight points, and four assists. Justin Lary chipped in seven points, four rebounds, and two blocks, while Gabe Overway tied Benton with 10 rebounds. 
 
The Saints shot 42.4 percent from the field and 13-of-18 at the line, while UNOH made 44.1 percent of its shots and was 16-of-22 from the charity stripe. AQ held a slight edge in the rebounding battle (36-35) and committed just 11 turnovers, while the Racers made nine miscues. 
 
UNOH went 7-of-22 from downtown, while the Saints were 5-of-19 from beyond the arc. AQ held a 30-13 bench point advantage. The Racers were slightly better in the paint, 34-30.
 
It was 14-11 in Aquinas' favor at the 13:02 mark of the first half after a Hillis three-pointer, but UNOH responded with a 16-2 run and took a 27-16 advantage. Trailing by double-digits, AQ answered back with an 11-3 run of its own, with all 11 points coming from Murray in the final 3:12 of the half. The Racers led at the intermission, 30-27.
 
Aquinas took a 32-30 lead after a Hillis layup and a Malik Jones three-pointer in the opening 80 seconds of the second half. The Saints kept up the solid play and took a pair of eight-point advantages, with the last one coming at 44-36 after Lary hit a jumper with 14:05 remaining. 
 
UNOH bounced back and briefly took a three-point lead (55-52) with 8:33 to play, but Hillis buried a three-pointer and Murray scored on back-to-back layups to give AQ the 59-55 edge exactly two minutes later. The Racers then closed the final 6:33 with a 20-9 run, leading for the final four minutes of the game to earn the home triumph.
 
This Saturday (Jan. 18), the Saints cap off the three-game road week with a trip to Livonia, Mich. to face off with #22 Madonna. The Crusaders are the seventh ranked opponent AQ has played this season.