Grand Rapids, Mich. — Down 12 points at halftime, the Aquinas men's basketball team stormed back with a 34-13 outburst in the first 12 minutes out of the locker room to grab a nine-point lead over WHAC foe Lawrence Tech.
The Blue Devils answered back and made the plays that matter the most down the stretch to steal back a 67-65 win Wednesday night (Feb. 1) inside the Sturrus Center.
LTU improved to 13-9 overall (8-6 WHAC), while AQ lost back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 4 and dropped to 9-13 overall (5-10 WHAC).
Both teams started the contest freezing cold with neither side scoring in the first four and a half minutes. After a combined 11 missed shots and seven turnovers, AQ's
Tommy Gregwer finally broke the seal on the rim to end the scoreless deadlock.
Yet, the Blue Devils scored the next 11 points and held a 14-point lead after Blake Lund made a 3-pointer with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
A pair of free throws made by Nathaniel Ward, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds, gave LTU its biggest lead of the game at 33-18 with 33 seconds left before halftime. Saints freshman forward
Donovan Brown-Boyd buried a triple 20 seconds later to give the Saints a little momentum to end the first half, despite being down 33-21.
Brown-Boyd and
Gabe Overway each finished with a team-high 16 points, scoring nearly half of AQ's 65 total points on 12-for-22 shooting. The Saints shot 42.1% as a team, compared to LTU's 40.4%.
Devon Boyd, who was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, jump started the Saints' offense 30 seconds into the second half with the first of his three 3-pointers he made in a span of six minutes. Boyd's third and final triple tied the score at 37-37 with 14 minutes remaining.
Overway powered down a dunk with eight and a half minutes left to put AQ up nine points at 53-44.
Five minutes later, the score was tied again at 62-62 following a 3-pointer made by LTU's Alejandro Gonzalez, who led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting (5-for-7 from behind the arc).
Another triple by Gonzalez and a layup by Lund provided the Blue Devils with a five-point cushion with a minute to play. Overway made a free throw and scored an offensive putback off a missed free throw to get the Saints back within three points at 67-65 with 50 seconds remaining.
AQ was given a chance to tie or take the lead when LTU threw its next possession out of bounds with 21 seconds left.
Andrew Larson had a decent look at a 3-pointer with nine ticks remaining, but it cranked off the rim. Overway then missed the offensive putback that would have tied the game.
Lawrence Tech missed the front-end of one-and-one free throws but AQ failed to get a final shot off with 1.9 seconds remaining. The Blue Devils hung on, 67-65.
Next up, Aquinas has a short trip through Grand Rapids to play in-city rival Cornerstone on Saturday (Feb. 4). The Saints snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Golden Eagles with a 76-74 home win against CU earlier this season on Jan. 7. Tipoff this Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m.
