The Aquinas men's basketball team fell to Spring Arbor in the home non-conference match-up Thursday afternoon (Dec. 30) in Sturrus Center. In a back-and-forth battle, the Saints eventually could not keep up with the three-point parade by the Cougars and took an 80-71 loss.
AQ now has a record of 10-6 on the season and SAU, an NAIA school out of the Crossroads League, improves its record to 5-10 on the year.
Aquinas started the game on a 7-0 run and led for the first nine minutes of the ball game over Spring Arbor. After the Cougars tied the game up at 18 with 11:03 left to play, the two teams traded baskets until SAU grabbed the 29-27 lead at the 5:09 mark. The Saints quickly took the lead back until the Cougars got back on top for the final time with 2:20 remaining. A three-pointer with two seconds left pushed the SAU lead out to seven at halftime.
The Saints tried to make a push a couple times in the second half to regain the lead. The deficit dwindled down to two at the 14:25 mark, then Spring Arbor responded with a couple of baskets from downtown. A mini run by the Cougars saw the deficit grow to 11 in just a two minute span. The closest Aquinas got was five points with 2:26 left on the clock, but SAU was able to make enough free throws down the stretch to secure the nine-point win.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 50.0% clip after making 29-58 baskets, including 5-16 from downtown and 8-9 from the charity stripe. Spring Arbor went 29-53 from the floor for a 54.7% shooting percentage, including 9-16 from three-point land and 13-21 from the free throw line.
Sammie Ryans was the top point scorer for the Saints, finishing with 21 points to go along with his five rebounds and two assists. Gabe Overway finished with a 16-point and 12-rebound double-double, while also dishing out three assists. Justin Lary was the third Saint to finish in double figures with 13 points with two rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Trevor Ballard tied the team-high with three assists along with Overway and Jesse Hillis, while also adding eight points three rebounds, and a steal. Menalito McGee had five points for AQ with Hillis and Bronson Sysum picking up four points a piece off the bench.
Aquinas outrebounded Spring Arbor by a 30-28 margin as SAU finished with a 17-14 assist advantage and both teams had 11 turnovers, five steals, and a block each.
The Saints will play their third and final game of the week on Sunday (Jan. 2) at home against Roosevelt, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM.
