Lansing, Mich. - 55 second half points were just enough for the Aquinas men's basketball team to overcome an 11-point deficit, as AQ held off Cleary for the 84-80 road victory on Tuesday night (Nov. 28). The wild finish saw 16 points in just the final minute of the game, but the Saints used four double-digit scorers to prevail in the WHAC contest.
It was AQ's second-highest scoring output this year, as the Saints improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in WHAC play. Cleary remains winless at 0-6 on the year and 0-3 in conference action.
Donovan Brown-Boyd notched a game-high 25 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the field and making a trio of three-pointers. He added five boards. DeAndre Francis notched 14 of his season-high 18 points in the second half, while totaling nine rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and two assists. He shot 8-of-14 from the floor, while nearly recording his second straight double-double.
Devon Boyd scored all 11 of his points in the second half and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe in the final 4:25 of the game. Boyd chipped in three assists and three rebounds. Andrew Larson recorded 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and handed out a team-best five assists.
Both teams shot above 50 percent from the floor and made frequent trips to the free throw line. AQ finished the game at 50.9 percent from the field and shot 20-of-27 at the stripe, while Cleary connected on 52.1 percent shooting and made 24-of-29 free throws. The teams each made six three-pointers; Aquinas on 17 attempts, Cleary on 18 tries.
The home Cougars led by as many as nine points in the first half on a few occasions, taking a 37-29 advantage to the locker room. AQ shot 40.7 percent in the first half and was just 2-for-4 at the line, but upped those numbers significantly in the second half: 60.0 percent shooting and 18-of-23 at the charity stripe.
Cleary led 40-29 in the opening minute of the second half before the Saints ran off the next nine points on a pair of Larson layups, a Brown-Boyd three-point play, and a jumper from Ryan Weir. Minutes later, Francis converted an old-fashioned three-point play and added a layup to tie the game at 43-all. With under 15 minutes remaining, there were still a ton of points to come.
Five minutes later, Cleary regained a 58-49 advantage, but AQ again chipped away and used buckets from Larson and Brown-Boyd to pull within a point at 61-60 with 6:47 to play. It wasn't until nearly the three-minute mark Aquinas took its first lead of the night.
A layup from Francis tied the score at 69-all with 3:38 remaining. Cleary was called for a technical foul 32 seconds later, with Boyd sinking two free throws and Francis scoring on another layup for a big four-point possession for a 73-69 cushion. Leading 75-73, Boyd buried a huge three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining for the five-point advantage.
The teams traded free throws and quick buckets in the final minute, with Boyd and Kaleb Mitchelson each sinking pairs of free throws to hold off Cleary for the wild victory.
In addition to the four double-digit scorers, Menalito McGee added eight points in 18 minutes, hitting 3-of-6 shots. Weir chipped in five points and three boards and Jared Lary grabbed three rebounds.
With such great shooting on both sides, rebounds were hard to come by; AQ won the battle on the glass, 29-22. Cleary held a 28-15 bench point advantage, while Aquinas was better in the paint (34-26) and on second chance points (12-2).
The Saints went 2-1 in their early season WHAC road trip and return home for four straight games in the Sturrus Center. AQ welcomes Indiana Tech for a big home game on Saturday (Dec. 2) at 3:00 p.m.
