The Aquinas men's basketball team fell victim to the high scoring Madonna offense on Tuesday evening (Feb. 1) at Sturrus Center. The Saints were able to lead 41-40 heading into halftime, but the the Crusaders held a 19-point advantage in the second half to win 95-77.
The Saints' overall record now stands at 13-12 on the season and slip to eighth place in the WHAC with a 7-9 conference record. The Crusaders improve their record to 17-8 on the year and are 11-4 in the conference.
The first part of the opening half set the tone for the game as it was back-and-forth with good offensive flow. The teams battled as the lead changed hands eight times before Aquinas seized control at the 9:01 mark, leading 20-18. A 16-2 run by the Saints saw them take the lead and grow their advantage out to 13 with six minutes remaining until half. The Crusaders battled back by scoring 11 of the next 13 points and eventually shrinking the AQ lead down to one heading into the locker room. Sammie Ryans was on his way to a career day after scoring 15 points in the first half that included three trifectas and four free throws. Six other Saints scored in the first 20 minutes as the score read 41-40 at the break.
It was a knock down, drag out performance by both teams in the beginning of the second half as they traded punches trying to take control of the game. The fast paced second half eventually fell in favor of Madonna as the lead was taken from Aquinas and the deficit started to steadily grow. The Crusaders were up by 10 at the 9:42 mark before Menalito McGee hit back-to-back threes to trim the deficit to six. In the next four minutes, MU outscored AQ 13-2 to push the lead out to 17 points with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. Madonna grew its lead out to as much as 22 points before it was all said and done, taking the 18-point victory. Ryans shined again in the second half by scoring another 18 points, but the rest of the team scored 18 points combined in the half.
The AQ offense had a good shooting night with a 45.3% field goal percentage with 10 threes and going 9-9 from the line. However, MU's offense was clicking on all cylinders for a whopping 59.6% shooting percentage including 12 treys and going 15-22 from the charity stripe.
After only scoring two points the previous game, Ryans posted a career-high 33 points on 10-20 shooting with seven field goals coming from beyond the arc and going 6-6 from the line. He also added two rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Gabe Overway produced his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds to go along with four assists, four blocks, and a steal.
Jesse Hillis and McGee tied Overway for the most assists on the team as Hillis ended with seven points and McGee scored six. Jaylen Rutherford (6), Justin Lary (6), Trevor Ballard (3), Jared Dugener (2), and Tommy Gregwer (2) all also contributed as every Saint that played scored at least a bucket.
Madonna ended with more rebounds (38-26) and assists (23-20) as Aquinas had a 4-2 advantage in blocks and both teams had seven steals a piece. AQ forced MU into 14 turnovers, while turning the ball over 10 times themselves. The Crusaders also scored more points in the paint (38-26), bench points (37-13), fast break points (10-4), and second chance points (9-6), while the Saints had more points off turnovers (17-14).
Aquinas is next scheduled to play this coming Saturday (Feb. 5) on the road against Concordia in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM.
