The Aquinas men's basketball team fell in the final seconds to UNOH in road WHAC action on Wednesday evening (Dec. 1) in Lima, Ohio. The Saints made a layup with 31 seconds remaining to take a one point lead, but the Racers came back down and hit a shot from behind the arc in the final seconds to secure the 72-70 upset win.
Aquinas now has a record of 7-5 on the season and 3-3 in the WHAC, while UNOH improves its record to 3-7 and 2-3 in the conference.
The Saints started building a lead right away and were up by 10 at the 15:23 mark. That lead grew up to as much as 12 a couple of times with the last one coming with 10:30 remaining. The Racers started chipping away over the next 10 minutes, getting the AQ lead down to three before halftime.
Both teams battled back and forth as Aquinas maintained a lead in between four and nine until there was five minutes remaining. UNOH ended up taking its first lead of the game with 1:35 left on the clock. The Saints came back down on the next possession and scored a layup after an offensive rebound to reclaim the one point lead. The Racers answered, draining a shot from downtown to take a two-point lead with five seconds remaining and ultimately the win.
Aquinas went 30-59 from the floor for a 50.8% shooting percentage, including 5-14 from three-point land and 5-10 from the free throw line. UNOH finished with a 42.9% field goal percentage after going 27-63, while shooting 8-21 from downtown and 10-17 from the charity stripe.
Sammie Ryans was the Saints top scorer for the second straight game by finishing with 24 points on 11-20 shooting, including two three-point baskets. He also notched six rebounds and three assists. Jaylen Rutherford scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists, and collected a steal. Gabe Overway was the third Saint in double figures with 10 points, while leading the team with seven rebounds and three assists.
Aquinas held a 12-8 advantage in assists and 4-3 advantage in blocks as UNOH grabbed more rebounds (37-34) and collected more steals (6-3). The Saints forced the Racers into 10 turnovers, while turning the ball over 12 times themselves. AQ also held a 44-36 advantage in points in the paint, while UNOH held leads second chance points (10-7) and bench points (22-13) as both teams finished with 11 points off turnovers.
Aquinas will next host Concordia on Saturday (Dec. 4) in Sturrus Center, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM.
