The Aquinas men's basketball team rallies to win its second of the past three games over UM-Dearborn on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 29) at Sturrus Center. After trailing by 16 with 7:02 left in the first half, the Saints offense exploded and outscored the Wolverines 25-1 to end the half which proved to be the turning point of the game. AQ prevailed with an 80-69 win to sweep the season series over UMD.
The Saints improve their record to 13-11 on the season and remain in the seventh place spot in the WHAC with a 7-8 conference record. The Wolverines now have a 3-18 record on the year and are 1-14 in the conference.
UM-Dearborn jumped out to an early lead after hitting on back-to-back threes to begin the game and were in control for most of the first half. Every time Aquinas scored a bucket, UMD had an answer and eventually built its lead up to 16 a couple of times. This is where the tide turned in favor of AQ. With 7:02 left in the period, the Saints defense clamped down and did not allow the Wolverines to score a field goal for the rest of the half, while also creating five turnovers. The defense turned into offense as AQ scored 12 points on the fast break from the five turnovers. This is where Justin Lary's career day came alive scoring 10 in the 25-1 run to end the first half and head into the locker room.
The Wolverines responded in the second half, staying with Aquinas bucket-for-bucket and eventually took the lead back with 13:13 on the clock. This was the first and only lead UMD had for the rest of the game. Another 12-0 Saint run pushed the lead up to double digits within the next four minutes of play. The Wolverines made one more push to cut the lead down to five, but AQ was too much in the end. Lary scored another 14 points in the second half, leading the Saints to an 11-point win over UMD.
Aquinas shot the ball at a 51.9% clip after making 28-54 baskets, including 9-24 from downtown and 15-18 from the charity stripe. UM-Dearborn went 27-62 from the floor for a 43.5% field goal percentage, including 7-18 from three-point land and 8-12 from the free throw line.
Lary ended the day with a career-high 26 points on 7-13 shooting, while going 5-9 from three and 7-8 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds and two steals. Gabe Overway also contributed a very nice game with 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two steals. Jaylen Rutherford also scored double digits for the Saints with 15 and also led the team with six assists.
Jesse Hillis finished the game with nine points, three assists, and two steals, while Menalito McGee stuffed the staff sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Tommy Gregwer (5) and Sammie Ryans (2) also contributed to the scoring column.
Aquinas dominated the fast break scoring by scoring 18 points off Wolverine turnovers compared to UM-Dearborn's four, while also leading in the points off turnovers (25-18) and points in the paint (32-22). UMD had more bench points (22-12) and second chance points (13-9).
The Saints will next host Madonna on Wednesday (Feb. 2) at the Sturrus Center, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 PM.
