Trailing by six points at halftime of the 2021-22 conference opener, the Aquinas men's basketball team ran off 60 second-half points to earn a strong 90-87 victory over visiting Lourdes on Wednesday night (Nov. 10) in Grand Rapids. Three Saints topped the 20-point plateau, with the trio of Jesse Hillis, Sammie Ryans, and Jaylen Rutherford combining for 67 points in the victory.
 
The win puts Aquinas at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in WHAC play, while Lourdes drops to 2-1 on the season and 0-1 in conference action. It was the WHAC opener for both schools and AQ picked a great time to eclipse the 90-point mark. The Saints reached the 90-point plateau for the second consecutive game, including the 94-76 win over Penn State-Greater Allegheny last Friday (Nov. 5).
 
AQ hit 54.0 percent of its field goal tries in the win, including a blistering 63.6 percent in the decisive second half. The Saints went 15-of-26 from the charity stripe in the second half after not attempting a single freebie in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The game's three leading scorers were all from AQ. Hillis went 9-for-15 from the field and made 5-of-8 free throws for a game-high 24 points, while adding five steals, four assists, and four rebounds. Ryans made 9-of-14 shots and hit a pair of triples in his 22-point, four-rebound, two-assist effort. Rutherford contributed 21 points, six assists, and six rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting. He made both three-point attempts and added two steals.
 
Aquinas raced to a 10-2 lead in the game's opening minutes, with Rutherford and Justin Lary burying three-pointers. Lourdes responded and took a 19-17 lead midway through the half and the two teams exchanged leads throughout the rest of the first half. The Gray Wolves held a 36-30 advantage at the intermission.
 
AQ doubled its first half scoring (30 points) in the second half (60) and began to pull away with 13 minutes left in the game. Rutherford contributed five points in the Saints' 8-0 run to put the home team ahead 61-53 with 10:58 remaining. Aquinas held a double-digit advantage for a large chunk of the rest of the game, moving to a game-high 14-point cushion at 81-67 on a Rutherford dunk with 4:19 to play.
 
Lourdes pulled within five points in the closing 10 seconds and hit a last-second three-pointer to make the final score a tad closer. There were 10 lead changes and nine tie scores, with most coming in the opening 20 minutes. The Saints committed just nine turnovers in the win and were victorious despite Lourdes' 56-44 edge in the paint.
 
In addition to the Hillis-Ryans-Rutherford 20-point trio, four other Saints scored at least five points. Gabe Overway notched seven points and four rebounds, while Justin Lary chipped in six points. Menalito McGee totaled five points and five boards, while Malik Jones recorded five points and four assists.

The Saints look to extend to a three-game winning streak on Saturday (Nov. 13) when the team crosses town to face Cornerstone in a big rivalry contest. AQ and CU tip off in the Mol Arena at 3:00 p.m.