The Aquinas men's basketball team played a solid second half, but the visiting Madonna Crusaders put together quite a first half on Tuesday night (Feb. 23) at the Sturrus Center. Madonna took a large lead to halftime and topped the Saints in the regular season finale by an 87-58 final score.

It was the final home game of the season for Aquinas in an obviously unique season due to COVID, as the Saints' season opener was just a month ago on Jan. 22 in Mishawaka, Ind. The loss drops AQ to 4-10 overall and 4-9 in WHAC play, while Madonna improves to 8-2 on the year and 6-1 in league action.

Tuesday's game was Senior Night for a pair of Saints, both of which were the team's leading scorers. Sammie Ryans hit a trio of three-pointers and scored 15 points to go with five boards and two steals, while Deric Murray finished 6-of-13 from the floor and totaled 14 points, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and two assists.

The third Saint in double-digits was Gabe Overway with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Overway added four rebounds and three assists. Jesse Hillis chipped in seven points, six assists, and five boards. Justin Lary added four points and three rebounds, while Menalito McGee dished out three assists.

Madonna shot 52.5 percent from the field in the game and went 12-for-20 from three-point range, but shot 65.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes and hit 10-of-14 triple tries. The Crusaders raced out to a 55-28 halftime edge and AQ could get no closer than 17 points in the second half.

Aquinas shot 41.0 percent from the floor, but went 4-of-20 from downtown and just 4-of-10 at the line. Madonna won the rebounding battle 41-30, but committed 17 turnovers to just 14 for the Saints.

AQ finished as the #7 seed in the WHAC Tournament, which begins on Thursday (Feb. 25). The Saints will travel to Fort Wayne to take on #2 seed Indiana Tech in an 8:00 p.m. quarterfinal tipoff. When the teams met on Jan. 30 in only Aquinas' third game of the season, the game was tied at halftime and was a six-point contest midway through the second half before the Warriors prevailed with a 79-67 victory.

The WHAC semifinals is on Saturday (Feb. 27), with the championship game scheduled for Monday (Mar. 1).