Box Score
The Aquinas men's basketball team hung in with Western Michigan before ultimately dropping the exhibition contest on Friday evening (Dec. 17) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After only being down by two at half, the Saints tried to complete a comeback on the Broncos late in the second half before WMU eventually won 67-56.
The Broncos grew their lead up to 10 with 8:09 remaining in the first period, the largest lead they had in the opening 20 minutes, before the Saints went on a run themselves. Highlighted by three-point baskets from Trevor Ballard and Justin Lary, AQ went on an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to one with 4:27 on the clock. Gabe Overway then scored seven of the final nine points to keep the Saints within two heading into halftime.
WMU started stringing some buckets together as the Broncos held multiple 15-point leads for their largest leads of the game with the last one coming at the 6:42 mark. Aquinas did not back down to the challenge, cutting the deficit to seven within the next three minutes. That would be as close as the rest of the period played out and saw WMU win by 11.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 37% clip after making 19-51 baskets, including 3-16 from downtown and 15-19 from the charity stripe. Western Michigan went 23-50 from the floor for a 46% shooting percentage, including 2-17 from three-point land and 19-23 from the free throw line.
Sammie Ryans led the way offensively with 17 points to go along with his four rebounds and two assists. Overway was the only other Saint in double figures with 16, while grabbing a team-high 11 boards for a double-double. Jesse Hillis dished out the most assists with four and also finishing with six rebounds and four points.
Lary (9), Ballard (5), and Tommy Gregwer (5) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas.
Aquinas edged Western Michigan in the rebounding department 32-31, while also collected more assists by a 13-3 margin. The Saints forced the Broncos into 12 turnovers, while turning the ball over 16 times themselves. WMU held advantages over AQ for points in the paint (38-26), bench points (14-9), and fast break points (12-0).
Aquinas will return to action after winter break with a road game against Grace Christian on Wednesday (Dec. 29), with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 PM.
