Lake Wales, Fla. - The Aquinas men's basketball could not overcome a late run from the Warner Royals to begin the team's trip down south on Monday evening (Dec. 18). Monday's non-conference game was tied with 10 minutes to play, but a 10-0 run from the home Royals was enough for Warner to pull away from Aquinas by a 68-60 final.

It was AQ's second game in three days, after defeating Lawrence Tech 85-76 on Saturday (Dec. 16) in the Sturrus Center. The team flew to Florida on Sunday and prepped for two games in two days in the Sunshine State. Aquinas is now 6-5 after the loss, while Warner improves to 7-4 on the year.

The Saints doubled up Warner in made three-pointers (8-4), but the Royals owned an 18-10 advantage in made free throws; which was a +8 advantage in an 8-point final. Warner shot 41.8 percent from the field, while AQ finished at 37.5 percent. 

There were six lead changes and five tie scores on Monday night in the first-ever meetings between the schools.

Jared Lary came off the bench to post a team-best 13 points for his fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season - and second in three days. He finished with four steals and a block and also went 4-for-4 at the line. DeAndre Francis picked up his second double-double as a Saint, recording 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Francis added three assists and two steals.

Menalito McGee made all four freebies and hit a pair of three-pointers for 10 points, three boards, and two assists. Devon Boyd also hit a pair of trifectas and scored eight points.

AQ's largest lead came at 19-14 with 9:17 remaining in the first half after a layup and three-pointer for Lary. It was the biggest advantage for either team in the opening 20 minutes, with Warner taking a 31-28 edge to the half.

Boyd's early three-pointer in the second half put Aquinas back in front, 32-31 in the opening minute. A dunk from Francis and a Lary layup made it 36-33 a few minutes later. McGee sank a pair of free throws at the 10:23 mark to tie the game at 47-all.

Over the next three-plus minutes, Warner scored all 10 points and took the game's biggest advantage to that point at 57-47. AQ responded with three consecutive buckets from Francis to cut the deficit to 57-53 with 2:41 remaining, as the Saints defense kept the Royals off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes.

The four-point deficit was as close as Aquinas could get, as Warner knocked down all six free throws in the final minute to keep its distance from the Saints. 51 of Warner's 68 points came from two players: Blaize Darling Jr. (31 points) and Logan West (20).

AQ outscored Warner 29-7 in bench points, while the Royals held a slight 24-22 edge in the paint. 

The Saints are back in action on Tuesday evening (Dec. 19) at 5:00 p.m. against Webber International.