Adrian, Mich. - The Aquinas men's basketball team pulled away from Siena Heights late in Saturday's (Nov. 18) WHAC opener between the two Saints schools, as AQ prevailed with a 63-54 road victory. Aquinas received 23 points (16 in the second half) from Donovan Brown-Boyd and played stingy defense to earn its third victory in a row.
The visiting Saints improved to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in WHAC play, making 9-of-16 three-pointers in the victory. Siena Heights drops to 1-2 on the year and 0-1 in league action. Aquinas held SHU to just 36.7 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Brown-Boyd was easily the best player on the floor on Saturday, scoring a game-high 23 points. No other player from either team scored more than 10 points. Brown-Boyd finished 7-of-14 from the field and a scorching hot 5-of-6 from three-point range. He added five boards, two steals, and a block. His five three-pointers were more than Siena Heights' entire team total of four made triples.
In the second half, Brown-Boyd scored 16 points on 4-for-5 from long distance. The score was tied 43-43 after a DeAndre Francis layup at the 10:05 mark. And that's when Brown-Boyd took over.
After putting AQ in front 46-43 with a three-pointer, he knocked down back-to-back triple tries to make it a 52-46 Aquinas lead at just under the seven-minute mark. After layups from Francis and Andrew Larson kept AQ on top 56-52 with 3:21 to go, neither team scored for more than two minutes.
The next points came from Brown-Boyd, who drilled his fourth three-pointer of the half to give Aquinas a commanding 59-52 lead with just 1:11 remaining. Two free throws apiece from Kaleb Mitchelson and Menalito McGee iced the game away for Aquinas, clinching the nine-point victory.
Larson joined Brown-Boyd in double-digits, supplying 10 points (3-for-5 field goals, 3-for-3 at the line), five boards, and two steals. Devon Boyd added seven points on perfect 3-for-3 shooting and handed out five assists, while also grabbing two steals.
McGee recorded seven points and four boards in 18 minutes, while Tommy Gregwer buried both of his three-point attempts for six points off the bench. Francis grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with four points, two assists, and a blocked shot. Samuel Medendorp blocked three shots.
The game was tied at 16-all in the first half, when McGee converted a layup and knocked down a three-pointer for the 21-16 advantage. Aquinas would hold the lead the remainder of the half, with Gregwer burying both of his triple tries in the final 100 seconds of the half to put AQ in front 31-26 at intermission.
Aquinas continues its three-game WHAC road trip on Tuesday (Nov. 21). The Saints match up at (RV) Rochester at 7:30 p.m. before taking a one-week break over the Thanksgiving holiday.
