The Aquinas men's basketball team was taken to overtime by Concordia, but came through with a win on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 4) in Sturrus Center. The Saints needed the extra five minutes to win the home WHAC game over the Cardinals by an 81-76 score in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Aquinas improves its overall record to 8-5 on the season and 4-3 in the WHAC, which is good for fifth in the standings, while Concordia now has a record of 4-7 on the season and 1-5 in the conference.
The Saints started the game off on fire by going 5-5 from the field, including 3-3 from downtown, to hold a 15-2 lead when the Cardinals took a timeout at the 16:46 mark. The lead grew up to 20-4 with 12:35 remaining, but then CUAA started chipping away by scoring seven of the next nine baskets to whittle the Saints lead down to seven points. Aquinas stopped the bleeding and grew the lead back out to double-digits, maintaining the double figures lead until the score read 38-28 at halftime.
Concordia came out as the aggressor in the second half, going on a 7-2 run in the first three minutes to shrink the AQ lead to five. The two teams battled back-and-forth for the next 12 minutes as Concordia would grab its first lead of the game at the 8:30 mark. After there were seven lead changes and four ties down the stretch, the game was tied at the end of regulation to force overtime. Jesse Hillis nailed a three with 44 seconds remaining to give the Saints a two-point advantage, but the Cardinals came back down and made a layup with 19 seconds left. This tied the game up at 68 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Through the first three and a half minutes of overtime, CUAA outscored AQ 8-6 and held a two point lead with 1:21 remaining. The Saints went on to score the next seven points, all at the free throw line, to take the five-point win. Gabe Overway was the main catalyst in the overtime period, scoring eight of the team's 13 points.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 49.2% clip after making 30-61 attempts, including 8-28 from downtown and 13-14 from the charity stripe. AQ held Concordia to 27-65 from the floor for a 41.5% shooting percentage, including 7-22 from three-point land and 15-21 from the free throw line.
Overway collected his third double-double of the season after leading the team with 27 points and 13 rebounds. He went 9-13 from the field and a perfect 9-9 at the free throw line, also adding two blocks, an assist, and a steal to his box score. Sammie Ryans has scored double figures in 10 of the 13 games played this season after finishing with 19 points today. Ryans shot 50% from the floor, while also contributing six assists, four rebounds, and a steal. Justin Lary was not only the main defender on Concordia's best shooter, but he also led the team with seven assists and added 12 points, three rebounds, and two steals.
Hillis was the only double-digit scorer off the bench for the Saints, finishing with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a block. Menalito McGee and Tommy Gregwer had six points apiece as well.
Aquinas was outrebounded by Concordia 40-32 throughout the game, but AQ finished with more assists (23-10) and blocks (5-2). The Saints forced the Cardinals into 12 turnovers, while turning the ball over 11 times themselves. AQ also held advantages in points in the paint (36-34) and bench points (17-13), while CUAA held leads in points off turnovers (12-8) and second chance points (16-10). Both teams finished the game with four fast break points.
Aquinas will play its last home game before the Christmas break on Saturday (Dec. 11) in a non-conference contest against William Woods, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM.
