The Aquinas men's basketball team competed against the #2 team in the NAIA in St. Francis for the second game of the Goshen Tournament and ultimately fell on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 30) in Goshen, Indiana. The Saints controlled the pace for the first 17 minutes of the game, but the Cougars took over from there and claimed to 80-63 victory in Ruth Gunden Gymnasium.
Aquinas drops to 2-1 on the season with all three games being against Crossroad League teams and #2 St. Francis has began the season 3-0.
A hot start by the Saints got them a 12-point lead over the nationally ranked Cougars through about halfway of the first half. Sammie Ryans was a big catalyst for AQ during that stretch, scoring 12 of the 24 points. However, Ryans picked up his third foul of the game with 7:36 remaining that forced him to the bench with AQ leading by three and that is where the tide turned in favor of SFU. By the end of the first half, the Cougars took a six point lead into the locker room.
Jesse Hillis tried to keep the Saints in the ballgame with 13 points in the second half and Ryans in foul trouble. Unfortunately St. Francis ran away with the game, outscoring Aquinas by 11 in the second half to complete the 17-point victory.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 38.5% clip after making 20-52 baskets, including 7-22 (31.8%) from downtown and 16-22 (72.7%) at the free throw line. St. Francis finished with a 44.8% shooting percentage on 30-67 from the field, while making 8-26 (30.8%) from behind the arc and 12-17 (70.6%) from the charity stripe.
Hillis totaled a team-high 20 points on 6-10 shooting including two three-pointers and six free throws, while also dishing out a team-high four assists. Battling through foul trouble, Ryans scored all 12 of his points in the first half as the only other Saints to score double-digit points.
Jaylen Rutherford grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds and also contributed nine points. Justin Lary also chipped in another seven points and six boards for the Saints.
St. Francis led Aquinas in assists (13-9), steals (9-6), and blocks (2-1) with both teams grabbing 34 rebounds a piece. The Cougars also forced 18 Saints turnovers, while turning the ball over nine times themselves. SFU also led AQ in the categories of in points of turnovers (18-10), points off the bench (14-10), points in the paint (42-14), second chance points (9-4), and fast break points (4-2).
Aquinas will next travel to McKeesport, Pennsylvania to take on Penn State-Greater Allegheny on Friday (Nov. 5), with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 PM.
