The Aquinas men's basketball team trailed Calvin nearly the whole night in the opening game of the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame Classic on Friday evening (Nov. 26) in Hope, Michigan. Hosted by Hope College, the Knights nearly won by 20 points over the Saints in holiday hoops action by a score of 90-72.
Aquinas now has an overall record of 6-4 on the season, while Calvin, an NCAA DIII school out of the MIAA, improves its record to 4-1 on the season.
Both teams exchanged buckets to open the game as the Saints took their one and only lead of the game at the 16:01 mark of the first half. The Knights proceeded to go on a 13-2 spurt to over the next three minutes to take a double-digit lead. AQ cut the deficit down to six a couple of times, but CU was able to take a 13-point lead into the break with the help of nine baskets made from behind the arc.
The Knights extended the lead out to 20 with only 2:30 passing in the second half. Play was pretty even the rest of the game as the deficit never got over 22 points, but also never reached below 17 points for the Saints. CU took the 18-point win in the first game of the annual Thanksgiving break tournament.
Aquinas shot at a 46.6% clip from the field on 27-58 shooting, including 6-18 from three and 12-14 from the free throw line. Calvin finished with a 53.2% shooting percentage after going 33-62, while shooting 13-27 from downtown and 11-15 from the charity stripe.
Jesse Hillis was the leading point getter for the Saints, finishing with 23 points on 9-15 shooting (including 4-6 from beyond the arc) in 32 minutes of action. Gabe Overway notched his third 20-point game in the last four games with 22 points after going 8-11 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw stripe. Overway also led the team with eight rebounds and assisted on two baskets.
Sammie Ryans was the third double-digit scorer for the Saints by scoring 15 points on four two-point baskets, four free throws, and one trifecta to go along with five boards. Jaylen Rutherford filled the stat sheet with nine points, three rebounds, and a team-high three steals.
Rebounds were even as both teams grabbed 32 a piece with the Knights ending with more assists (16-9) and steals (9-5). The Saints forced 10 CU turnovers and turned the ball over 15 times themselves. Aquinas held a 7-5 advantage in second chance points as Calvin had more points off turnovers (21-10), points in the paint (32-30), and bench points (9-3).
Aquinas will be back in action tomorrow (Nov. 27) against the host of the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame Classic, Hope College, with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 PM.
