The Aquinas men's basketball team posted a huge come-from-behind victory on Wednesday night (Jan. 12) inside the Sturrus Center, rallying from 17 points down to defeat Lawrence Tech by an 80-77 score. AQ, which had four double-digit scorers, closed the game on a 12-4 run to knock off the first place Blue Devils.
With the victory, Aquinas improves to 11-8 on the season and evens its conference tally at 5-5. Lawrence Tech entered the game in a tie for first place in the league standings, but LTU drops to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in WHAC action.
The short-handed Saints nearly put all five starters in double figures, as that group contributed 70 of the team's 80 points.
Sammie Ryans notched 14 of his team-high 19 points in the second half,
Jaylen Rutherford added 15 points (with 13 coming in the final 20 minutes), and 10 of
Jesse Hillis' 17 points came after halftime. Ryans made 7-of-13 shots and was 3-for-4 from long distance, while adding six boards and two blocks. Rutherford tallied five assists and four rebounds, and Hillis went 7-of-12 from the floor and chipped in six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Trevor Ballard recorded 12 points and was 4-of-6 from the field, making both three-point tries.
Justin Lary delivered seven points and a team-best seven rebounds.
Menalito McGee posted six points, five rebounds, and three steals off the bench, while
Bronson Sysum made both field goal tries and pulled down two boards in nine minutes.
It was a fast start for both teams, with AQ leading 14-13 at the first media timeout, barely five minutes into the game. Lawrence Tech, however, settled in and raced out to a 35-18 lead with a large run that appeared to put the Blue Devils in control.
LTU still led comfortably at 40-26 with two minutes remaining in the half, but Aquinas used a quick spurt to get back in the game. Hillis, Ryans, and McGee delivered back-to-back-to-back three-pointers in a 1:14 span to bring the Saints within five (40-35) at the half.
The Blue Devils regained a double-digit lead early in the second half, but AQ chipped away at the deficit and took a 64-63 lead on a nifty fast break layup from Hillis with 7:59 to go. There were 11 lead changes in the game, with most of those coming in the final 10 minutes.
Tied at 75-75 nearing the four-minute mark, Rutherford scored on a tough layup to put the Saints on top, 77-75. LTU's Brandon Beavers scored the last of his game-high 32 points with a jumper at the 2:32 mark to tie the score at 77-all. On AQ's ensuing possession, Ryans scored on a layup off a feed from Hillis to push the Saints back in front (79-77) with 2:04 to play.
Lawrence Tech would not score again, as the Aquinas defense held the Blue Devils to just four points in the final six minutes and outscored the visitors 12-4 during that span.
AQ shot 48.4 percent from the field, slightly better than LTU's 47.6 percentage. Lawrence Tech made 11 three-pointers to nine for Aquinas, but the Saints' 11-of-16 mark at the free throw line was an advantage over the Blue Devils' 6-for-9 figure. Aquinas committed just seven turnovers and forced LTU into 12 miscues.
The Saints look to ride the momentum into Saturday's home game, as Aquinas welcomes crosstown rival Cornerstone to the Sturrus Center. Tipoff on Saturday (Jan. 15) is set for 3:00 p.m.
