A big first half and balanced scoring gave the Aquinas men's basketball team a much-needed home victory on Wednesday (Feb. 19) in the Sturrus Center. The Saints outscored visiting UNOH 46-31 over the first 20 minutes and finished off the Racers by an 81-55 victory in the 2019-20 home finale.
Two teams fighting for the final WHAC Tournament berth, Aquinas and UNOH are both 10-19 overall and 6-13 in WHAC play after Wednesday's result. The Saints and Racers are tied for eighth place in the conference standings, with Saturday's regular season finale looming for both squads. AQ heads to Fort Wayne to take on Indiana Tech at 3:00 p.m., while UNOH closes at home against #13 Lourdes.
Five Saints reached double-digits on Wednesday, led by 15 points and five assists from Jesse Hillis, who went 4-for-4 at the line. Deric Murray posted 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting in just 20 minutes, while Sammie Ryans made 3-of-5 three-pointers to notch 13 points and four assists in 18 minutes.
Gabe Overway was 6-of-8 shooting from the field and tallied 12 points and five rebounds, while Davion Benton delivered 10 points, eight rebounds, and four steals off the bench. The Saints reserves outscored UNOH by a 39-14 margin. In the paint, Aquinas dominated to the tune of a 52-22 edge, while the Saints also scored 20 of the game's 24 fast break points.
DeShawn Lewis totaled eight points, six rebounds, and three assists in his final home game, while fellow senior Beau LePage added five points. The Saints shot an even 50.0 percent from the field and went 11-of-15 at the line, while making six triple tries. AQ held a 42-39 rebounding advantage and committed just 11 turnovers.
The Racers were in front 5-2 before Aquinas answered with a 16-0 run, which included a pair of Ryans trifectas. AQ was on top 25-14 when Hillis led back-to-back fast-break layups in a 13-second span, the first assist going to Ryans and the second bucket coming from Lewis.
LePage and Hillis connected on consecutive three-pointers a few minutes later for a 40-23 lead with 4:22 remaining in the half. AQ would take a 46-31 lead to the locker room during intermission.
UNOH got no closer than 11 points (58-47 with 12:05 to go), but Murray scored on a layup to start the decisive 16-2 run, which ended with a Murray fast break dunk on a feed from Ryans. During that surge, AQ scored on six layups, a dunk, and two Malik Jones free throws to put the game out of reach at 74-49 with 5:45 remaining.
UNOH shot just 31.7 percent from the field and 6-of-23 from downtown. The Racers committed 17 turnovers, which AQ turned into 21 points.
After Saturday's regular season finale, there will likely be a tiebreaker scenario needed to determine the eighth and final spot in next week's WHAC Tournament, as the final four teams are all within one game of another. The opening round begins on Wednesday (Feb. 26).
