The Aquinas men's basketball team falls to a Lourdes team that has now won 11 straight games on Wednesday evening (Jan. 19) in Sylvania, Ohio. After trailing by only three at halftime, the Saints were held to 27 points in the second half as the Gray Wolves ended up winning 76-61.
AQ now has a record of 11-10 on the season and sit in eighth place in the WHAC with a 5-7 conference record. LU improves its record to 16-3 on the year and 8-3 in the conference.
The first half was a battle as the lead changed hands 13 times in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Saints held the biggest lead of either team at eight when they led 13-5 at the 14:38 mark. The Gray Wolves quickly took the lead back by going on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. This is when the back-and-forth play really picked up with the teams trading baskets. Lourdes took the lead for the final time of the game with 2:34 remaining in the half. LU ended up leading by three at half.
A 10-2 Gray Wolf run to open the second half helped them gain an 11-point lead, the first double-digit lead of the game. The Saints were able to cut the deficit to six with 15:37 remaining, but the Lourdes offense was too much as the lead grew to as much as 23. Aquinas had one more run that cut it down to 12, but it was too little too late as LU ended up winning by 15.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 45.7% clip after making 21-46 baskets, including 11-21 from downtown and 8-14 from the charity stripe. Lourdes went 30-60 from the floor for a 50.0% field goal percentage, including 6-16 from three-point land and 10-13 from the free throw line.
Justin Lary was the leading point scorer for the Saints after scoring 16 points on 5-9 shooting, including three three-pointers and three free throws. Sammie Ryans also chipped in with 11 points as the only other Saint to score in double figures. Gabe Overway and Jaylen Rutherford grabbed eight rebounds a piece to lead the team, while Jesse Hillis dished out a team-high five assists.
Six other Saints combined to score the remaining 34 points with Overway (9), Menalito McGee (8), Tommy Gregwer (6), Rutherford (5), Hillis (3), and Trevor Ballard (3) all contributing.
Lourdes led Aquinas in rebounds (32-26) and steals (12-6), while the Saints had more assists (17-10) and both teams recorded two blocks. AQ forced 12 turnovers, while turning the ball over 20 times itself. LU also had more points off turnovers (22-14), second chance points (4-0), points in the paint (38-18), and fast break points (10-0) as AQ led in bench points (17-6).
AQ returns home to Sturrus Center to face UNOH on Saturday (Jan. 22), with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM.
