Southfield, Mich. — Off the rim and out of bounds, both teams looked around to see what was next before realizing the clock had run out. Game over. The Aquinas men's basketball team eked out a slim 54-53 road victory at Lawrence Tech to open conference play with a win.

The Saints (3-2, 1-0 WHAC), coming off back-to-back overtime losses and having gone to overtime in three of their first four games, happily avoided the extra frame Wednesday evening (Nov. 9). Lawrence Tech dropped to 3-2 overall (0-1 WHAC) after not being able to convert on the final possession of the game.

Junior guard Menalito McGee and freshman forward Donovan Brown-Boyd scored 32 of AQ's 54 points. McGee made four 3-pointers to lead the team in scoring with a career-high 18 points. Brown-Boyd added 14 points and seven rebounds. The Saints tied a season-high by making 10 3-pointers as team.

A slow start had Aquinas down 13 points, 22-9, 11 minutes into the game. But, AQ closed out the first half on a 21-3 run to hold a 30-25 lead at halftime.

The Saints grew their lead out to 14 points on a triple by Brown-Boyd halfway through the second half. But, Lawrence Tech had a rally in them as well. A multitude of turnovers and missed shots by the Saints allowed the Blue Devils multiple attempts to either tie or take the lead late in the final minutes. LTU failed to do either, and eventually just ran out of time.

Andrew Rinn, who led all scorers with 19 points, came up short on the Blue Devils' last shot. LTU shot 35% as a team and got outrebounded 41-33.

AQ wasn't much better at 37.3% and finished with a season-high 19 turnovers, but held on to secure the victory despite only scoring one point in the final eight minutes. LTU ended the game on 14-1 run.

Devon Boyd and McGee each collected five assists for the Saints. Jared Dugener picked up nine boards to go with seven points. While the top two scorers from Aquinas coming into the contest, Payton Harley and Gabe Overway, were held to three points combined. 

Up next, the Saints host the fellow Saints from Siena Heights on Saturday (Nov. 12). Tipoff from the Coach Bo Court inside the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center is set for 3 p.m. after the women's basketball game being played at 1 p.m.