The Aquinas men's basketball team put together one of its better efforts in the 2019-20 season, as the Saints toppled a solid UM-Dearborn team on Wednesday night (Jan. 22) in the Sturrus Center by a 78-67 final. AQ raced out to a 16-point first-half lead, placed four players in double-digits, and nailed 11 trifectas in the WHAC victory.

The 11-point win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Saints, putting Aquinas at 7-15 on the season and 3-9 in WHAC play. UM-Dearborn, who is Receiving Votes in the NAIA Coaches Top-25 poll, falls to 13-8 overall and 6-5 in league action. When the teams met on Nov. 20 in Dearborn, the Saints fell in a defensive battle by a 52-37 score. On Wednesday night, Aquinas scored 37 points in just the first half, hitting 7-of-12 three-pointers and nearly 52 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes.

For the game, AQ connected on 46.2 percent of its field goals, went 11-of-26 from beyond the arc, and made 19-of-22 free throws. The Saints received 31 bench points in the game and held a slight 34-32 rebounding advantage. Aquinas led for the final 32 minutes of the game.

The Hillis cousins led the way for the Saints on Wednesday, with Jesse Hillis scoring a team-high 17 points and Truman Hillis notching a career-high 13 points. Jesse went 4-of-9 from downtown, made 5-of-6 freebies, and added six rebounds and five assists. Truman scored 10 points in seven minutes of the first half, finishing 5-of-6 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and grabbing three boards in just 14 minutes. Combined, the duo was 7-of-13 from three-point range.

Deric Murray also poured in 14 points off the bench, making 5-of-6 free throws and providing two boards, two assists, and two steals. Gabe Overway tallied 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting and notched four boards. Davion Benton put together a strong overall statline of a game-high 10 rebounds, seven points, four assists, four blocks, and two steals.

Beau LePage supplied seven points and three assists in his first start of the season, while Justin Lary hit a pair of three-pointers for his six points. Myles Patten added four points, two rebounds, and a big blocked shot near the end of the first half.

A trio of early three-pointers – two from Jesse Hillis and another from Lary – gave AQ an 11-5 lead, but the Saints would ramp things up later in the first half. Aquinas turned a 21-17 edge into a 30-19 advantage on three Hillis triples – two from Truman sandwiched around one from Jesse – in a 1:25 span. LePage added a trifecta minutes later for a 35-21 cushion and the Saints would take a 37-25 lead to the intermission.

UM-Dearborn cut into the earlier 16-point deficit to make it a 44-39 score with 13:11 remaining in the second half. On AQ's next possession, Murray hit a three-pointer and scored on a layup in the paint. Truman Hillis knocked down his third triple and Patten took a Murray pass and converted a layup to put the home team in front, 54-39. The Saints would hold a double-digit lead for all but six seconds of the remaining 11 minutes of the game.

AQ heads to Southfield on Saturday (Jan. 25) to match up with Lawrence Tech at 3:00 p.m. The Saints defeated LTU 81-59 on Dec. 7 in Grand Rapids.