A back-and-forth contest at the Sturrus Center on Wednesday night (Jan. 8) went to Indiana Tech, as the Aquinas men's basketball team fell to the visiting Warriors by a 71-62 final. In a game that saw 15 lead changes and nine tie scores, Indiana Tech used a 34-26 margin over the final 20 minutes to prevail and seal the tough WHAC victory.
The Saints stood toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the league, as Indiana Tech came into Wednesday night in third place in the WHAC standings. Indiana Tech improves to 10-8 overall and 6-2 in league play, while Aquinas drops to 6-11 on the year and 2-5 in conference action.
Aquinas shot 37.9 percent from the field and committed only nine turnovers, while forcing the Warriors in 17 turnovers. AQ held a 16-8 edge in points off turnovers and went 4-of-12 from downtown and 8-of-14 from the charity stripe. Indiana Tech shot 41.0 percent, made 7-of-18 three-pointers, and 14-of-18 freebies. The big stat, however, was the Warriors' 49-34 rebounding advantage, which converted into an 18-3 edge in second chance points.
Three Saints reached double-figures on Wednesday, led by
Jesse Hillis with a team-best 17 points and four assists.
Andrew Myers posted 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while
Gabe Overway made 6-of-9 shots and totaled 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Davion Benton recorded eight points, seven boards, and three steals, while
Justin Lary contributed five points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Myles Patten notched three steals and three assists off the bench.
AQ took the early 10-4 lead after back-to-back three-pointers from Myers and Hillis in the opening five minutes and the rest of the half would be back-and-forth between the two teams.
DeShawn Lewis drained a three-pointer midway through the half for the 19-16 lead, but Indiana Tech responded and eventually took a 37-31 lead late in the half.
In the final two minutes of the opening stanza, Hillis hit another three-pointer and Myers scored on a layup right before the halftime buzzer to make it a 37-36 contest at intermission. The first 20 minutes saw eight tie scores and seven lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points.
The Warriors opened a seven-point cushion midway through the half (55-48 with 10:02 to go), but Benton scored on a pair of layups in a 40-second span and it was once again a one-point game at 57-56 with 7:29 remaining. From there, Indiana Tech used a 10-0 run to take a 67-56 cushion at the 2:54 mark, the biggest lead of the game.
AQ closed out its four-game homestand on Wednesday night and begins a three-game road swing on Saturday (Jan. 11). The Saints travel across town to square off with Cornerstone at 3:00 p.m.
