The Aquinas men's basketball team has now won four of its last six games with the season sweep victory against Lawrence Tech on Wednesday evening (Feb. 9) in Southfield, Michigan. The Saints use a second half comeback behind an efficient night from Gabe Overway who went 11-13 from the field for 22 points in the 70-59 win.
AQ closes in on LTU for the sixth place spot in the WHAC with a 9-9 conference record and a 15-12 overall record. Sitting a half of a game in front of AQ is LTU with a 9-8 WHAC record and 12-11 record on the year.
The game was tight for the first eight minutes of the ball game as teams traded buckets and the score was tied 14-14 with 12:53 on the clock. A 14-2 run helped Aquinas take a 25-16 lead over the next two minutes and 40 seconds. The Blue Devils responded with a run of their own, outscoring AQ 19-5 over the last six minutes and 50 seconds of the half. Trevor Ballard kept Aquinas in the ball game by scoring 10 points including draining three shots from downtown. It was LTU who led 37-33 at the break.
After only scoring four points in the first half, Gabe Overway got going after halftime by scoring 18 of his 22 total points. The Saints seized control of the game by starting a 12-0 run at the 16:58 mark that lasted just over three minutes to gain a seven point lead. AQ did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the ball game as its largest lead ended up being the final margin, which was 11 points. Overway was a perfect 9-9 in the second half to propel the Saints to a win.
Aquinas had a good shooting night with a 50.8% shooting percentage on 30-59 from the field including 7-19 from three and 3-5 from the free throw line. Lawrence Tech was limited to a 37.9% field goal percentage, while also making seven treys and going 8-12 from the charity stripe.
Along with leading the team with 22 points, Overway also had four rebounds and two assists. Ballard ended the night with 12 points by going 3-4 from three-point land and the free throw line. Justin Lary led the way on the boards with 11 to go along with his seven points and three assists. Jaylen Rutherford also had three assists in addition to his nine points.
Rounding out the scoring for Aquinas was Sammie Ryans (6), Jesse Hillis (6), Menalito McGee (5), and Tommy Gregwer (3).
Aquinas pulled down more rebounds (34-30) and had more blocks (3-2), while Lawrence Tech dished out more assists (13-12) and collected more steals (5-3). The Saints forced 12 Blue Devil turnovers and only turned over the ball nine times themselves. AQ scored more points in the paint (42-30), bench points (20-14), and fast break points (9-0).
The Saints will return home for senior day against Siena Heights on Saturday (Feb. 12) at Sturrus Center. The senior day festivities will precede tip-off, which is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
