Rochester Hills, Mich. - The Aquinas men's basketball team put up a valiant fight on Tuesday night (Nov. 21) in a showdown against unbeaten Rochester on the Warriors' home floor. AQ held a 39-31 halftime lead, but strong shooting in the second half pulled (RV) Rochester back in front and the Warriors prevailed by an 84-77 final.
The Saints were looking to put the first blemish on Rochester's spotless record, but the Warriors shot 64.5 percent from the field in the second half to earn the tough comeback victory. RU remains undefeated at 7-0, with a 2-0 WHAC record. Aquinas is 3-2 and sees its three-game winning streak snapped. The Saints are 1-1 in conference play.
Four Saints reached double-digits in a strong offensive effort for AQ, as the team shot 49.2 percent from the floor and committed just 12 turnovers. Donovan Brown-Boyd made 7-of-14 shots (2-of-4 three-pointers) and tied for game-high scoring honors with 18 points. He added four boards and two steals.
Andrew Larson put together a terrific all-around performance, stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and two steals. He made 6-of-8 shots, hit all three free throw tries, went 2-for-3 from downtown, and grabbed five offensive boards.
Jared Lary poured in 15 points in just 17 minutes off the bench. He shot 5-of-11 from the field. DeAndre Francis notched his first double-double as a Saint with 10 points and 10 rebounds, marking his new season-high on the glass.
Three-pointers from Larson and Brown-Boyd were followed by layups from Ryan Weir and Larson to cap a 10-0 run and give AQ an early 15-7 advantage. Rochester responded and took a brief 20-19 lead at the 7:37 mark of the opening half. A layup from Larson, four points from Menalito McGee, and another Larson triple put the Saints back in front 35-26 nearing the two-minute mark.
Aquinas would take a 39-31 advantage to the intermission after back-to-back buckets in the paint from Brown-Boyd and Francis in the closing 1:10 of the half. The Saints shot 50.0 percent from the floor and held Rochester to 41.4 percent shooting.
In the second half, Rochester chipped away at the deficit and took a 48-47 lead with 13:10 remaining in the game. Two freebies from Lary and a Larson old-fashioned three-point play helped AQ regain a 54-50 edge less than two minutes later. The teams continued trading made shots and a Brown-Boyd three-pointer with 5:32 to play made it a 66-65 score in RU's favor.
However, Aquinas could not pull even the rest of the game, as Rochester held off the Saints and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 43 seconds to seal the victory.
The back-and-forth affair saw 11 lead changes and six ties. AQ was better in second chance points (14-6), while Rochester held a slight 48-44 edge in the paint. 16 of RU's 21 points off turnovers came in the high-scoring second half.
Devon Boyd recorded six points and five assists. McGee and Weir both played 18 minutes and scored six and five points, respectively.
Aquinas is off until next Tuesday (Nov. 28), when the team looks to complete a 2-1 WHAC road trip. The Saints face Cleary at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be played at Lansing Community College's Gannon Gymnasium.
