Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas men's basketball team returned to the Sturrus Center today (Nov. 12) after a three-game road stand. The Saints took on the Siena Heights Saints in the battle of the Saints and came out on top, winning the game 80-72. A big first half where AQ outscored SHU 37-24 proved to be the difference in the game.

Aquinas now improves to 4-2 on the season with a 2-0 WHAC record. This is the first time since the 2011-12 season that the Saints have started conference play with a 2-0 record.

The Saints ripped out of the gates to start the game, taking an early 12-2 lead. SHU would mount a quick comeback and narrow the deficit to just three points with the score at 16-13. A three pointer from Tommy Gregwer, followed by another three-pointer from Donovan Brown-Boyd would triple the Saints lead with 7:39 left to play in the first half.

Layups from Gabe Overway and Devon Boyd would bring the Saints' lead up to double digits. With the clock winding down in the first half, Brown-Boyd would hit another three and Menalito McGee would score a pair of free throws and a jumper to extend the AQ lead to 33-19 with just two-and-a-half minutes to play.

Both sides would score a handful of points prior to the end of the half, but AQ would hold a commanding 37-24 lead heading into halftime. Brown-Boyd led the team in scoring in the first half with nine points.

Both teams would trade buckets to start the second half with SHU slowly chipping away at the Aquinas lead. The visiting Saints would eventually get the Aquinas lead to just eight points with 12:24 to play after a tip-in basket. The Saints would quickly bring that lead back up to 12 points after a jumper from McGee and a layup from Overway. McGee would immediately follow that up with a three-pointer to extend the lead to 15, giving AQ a 7-0 run in just a minute and 52 seconds.

With the clock running down, another three ball from Brown-Boyd would give AQ a commanding 66-52 lead. However, Siena Heights would continue to fight, narrowing the Aquinas lead to just seven points with 2:30 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws from SHU would make the score 72-67 with two minutes to play.

Siena Heights would miss a couple of shots and the Saints would convert three-of-four from the charity stripe from two separate trips. SHU would make things interesting after scoring a quick three and a layup to make the score 76-72 with just 11 second remaining. However, Jared Dugener would convert all four of his free throws to tuck the game away at 80-72. The Saints would win the game and held the lead for 38 of the 40 minutes.

Aquinas significantly outshot Siena Heights from the field. AQ shot 56.9% from the field and 58.3% from beyond the arc. SHU would shoot just 35.8% from the field and 27.3% from three. Aquinas held a slight advantage in rebounds (36-35) and blocks (5-3). SHU had 16 steals to AQ's four and both sides committed 19 fouls throughout the game.

McGee scored a career-high 21 points tonight, topping his prior personal best of 18 points set just three days ago against Lawrence Tech. He shot 7-11 from the field and 2-4 from the three-point line. He made five of his six free throws while also adding five boards, four assists, and two steals to his stat line.

Overway would finish second on the team in the scoring department with 17 points. He shot an impressive 8-11 from the field and scored one of his two free throws. He also had five rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Brown-Boyd would be the third Saints to score double-digits with 14 points tonight. He shot an impressive 3-4 from beyond the arc and 4-7 from the field. In addition, he had four boards, an assist, and a block.

The Saints return to the court on Wednesday (Nov. 16) to take on the Rochester Warriors. The tipoff is set for 7:30 PM following the women's basketball game.