Ann Arbor, Mich. — Aquinas junior guard Payton Harley had the hot-hand, scoring 10 points in each half for a game-high 20 points on Wednesday evening (Jan. 4), but the Saints men's basketball team didn't have enough firepower in crunch time to prevent a 69-63 road loss to WHAC foe Concordia.

The Saints (6-9, 3-6 WHAC) held a two-point advantage at 63-61 with 1:10 remaining in regulation, but had no answers in stopping an 8-0 game-winning run by the Cardinals (5-10, 5-4 WHAC) in the final 56 seconds.

The drastic swing was started by Kip French making a 3-pointer and finished off with the Cardinals calmly sinking five free throws. Meanwhile, Harley missed a pair of crucial free throws and a long-range triple that could have kept the Saints afloat in the final minute. It was an unkind and unfitting conclusion to the contest for the first-year transfer student out of Governors State after he arguably had one of his best games for AQ this season.

Harley matched his season-high with 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting (4-for-6 in the first half), provided three assists and grabbed three rebounds in 29 minutes. He made a personal season-high four 3-pointers on eight attempts.

Tommy Gregwer and Andrew Larson also hit double-digits in points for the Saints with 11 and 10 points, respectively. AQ's leading scorer, Gabe Overway (13.4 PPG), and second-leading scorer this season, Donovan Brown-Boyd (12.1 PPG), were both held to six points on Wednesday. Overway did come down with a team-high eight rebounds.

The difference between the two teams never grew beyond six points in the first half. A layup in the final seconds by Devon Boyd cut the Cardinals' lead to four points, 30-26, going into halftime. Yet, despite trailing, AQ actually shot better from the floor in the first 20 points at 44.4% compared to CUAA's 40%. 

The contest, however, was mostly decided at the free throw line. Concordia continually got to the charity stripe and cashed in, making 24-for-32. AQ went 6-for-11. Eleven of the Cardinal's last 14 points came at the free throw line over the last three minutes and 15 seconds of regulation.

Jayden Priddy (17 points), Nate Brighton (15) and French (14) led CUAA in scoring.

Both teams shot 7-for-21 (33.3%) behind the arc. AQ won the rebound battle (29-25) and points in the paint (30-24), while Concordia collected more points off turnovers (16-12) and second-chance points (11-8).

The Saints will look to regroup and upset (RV) Cornerstone on Saturday (Jan. 7). The two Grand Rapids rivals will square off at Aquinas starting at 6 p.m. inside the Sturrus Center with the women's basketball game being played beforehand at 4 p.m.