Another classic rivalry game between Aquinas and Cornerstone went down to the final buzzer, as the Golden Eagles hit a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to earn a wild 91-88 victory on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 15) at the Sturrus Center. AQ rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the second half and held three leads in the final 90 seconds before a strange ending and the game-winning three-pointer from Cornerstone's Christian Rodriguez.
It was an incredible back-and-forth duel between Rodriguez and Aquinas' DeShawn Lewis, who celebrated Senior Day in style. Lewis poured in a season-high 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting, 4-of-6 from three-point range, and 5-of-6 at the line. He added six rebounds in 32 minutes and was just two points shy of his career-high. Rodriguez's final three-pointer with just more than a second remaining made him 7-for-10 from beyond the arc for a team-best 31 points.
The final play was set up by an odd reversal in the closing seconds. With six seconds to play, Cornerstone missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer with the game tied at 88-88. Lewis grabbed the defensive rebound for Aquinas and attempted to pass the ball up the floor. It was knocked away and stolen by Cornerstone in the paint, but a follow-up short jumper was no good.
At that point, the whistles blew and Aquinas was awarded a timeout it appeared to call immediately after Lewis' rebound. The timeout was granted to AQ – which assumed it still had possession of the ball, but during the subsequent break in action, the referees huddled and completely changed course with their call. They deemed it would be Cornerstone's ball with 3.5 seconds remaining and Aquinas would not be charged for a timeout.
Amid all the confusion – Aquinas went into the timeout with the ball, but left the huddle with it being Cornerstone's ball – the Golden Eagles drew up an out-of-bounds play underneath their own basket. Rodriguez got open in the corner in front of CU's bench and knocked down the go-ahead three-pointer with 1.3 seconds to go. Aquinas called timeout and set up a final play, but Lewis' potential tying triple did not get off in time, sealing the win for Cornerstone.
The Golden Eagles move to 17-11 on the season and 11-8 in league action. AQ drops to 9-19 overall and 5-13 in conference play. Both games in the rivalry this season were decided by three points apiece. There were 13 lead changes and nine tie scores on Saturday.
With his fifth double-digit scoring game of the year, Lewis wasn't the only near-hero for Aquinas. Jesse Hillis recorded a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists, while Davion Benton chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists. He also scored an early first-half bucket to give him 1,000 points during his overall college career.
Cornerstone shot 58.5 percent from the field and went 12-for-22 from three-point range, while Aquinas shot 52.5 percent overall and 10-for-23 from long distance. The Golden Eagles were 17-of-24 at the line, while AQ made 16-of-20 attempts. Each team had 11 turnovers and 30 points in the paint.
There AQ won the rebounding battle (31-24) and held the edge in bench points (28-17), while CU doubled up in second chance points, 18-9.
Aquinas jumped in front 9-3 in the opening minutes after Lewis took a feed from fellow senior Beau LePage and buried a three-pointer. The lead eventually grew to 17-8 on three-pointers from Truman Hillis and Sammie Ryans in the first five minutes. Cornerstone put together a run to tie the game at 19-19 and moved in front 30-24 with 6:46 to play in the half.
The Saints used a late layup from Myles Patten and three-pointer from Deric Murray to trim the deficit to a 40-39 score at the intermission.
The final 20 minutes saw 12 lead changes and five tie scores. Cornerstone went in front 65-54 after a four-point play and appeared to be in control until Aquinas chipped away at the deficit. Seven straight points for Lewis, four more from Benton, and a Murray three-pointer made it 71-68 with 6:18 to play.
AQ then took the lead with 4:03 remaining at 77-74 after a pair of Jesse Hillis free throws and a short Gabe Overway jumper. The final minutes were back-and-forth, but Lewis scored nine points over the final 2:28, including the game-tying free throw to make it 88-88 with 10 seconds play, setting up the wild finish.
The Saints finish the home portion of their regular season schedule on Wednesday (Feb. 19) against UNOH at 7:30 p.m. in the Sturrus Center.
