Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Aquinas men's basketball team went into Ann Arbor on Tuesday night (Nov. 26) for a road contest against the Concordia Cardinals. Aquinas held a two-game winning streak heading into the final road contest ever against CUAA. Concordia controlled the game throughout much of the first half, but AQ rallied back in the second half to keep the score close. The game went down to the wire and was ultimately decided by a Cardinal three with just five seconds remaining on the clock.

That three pushed the hosts ahead and led to a final score of 76-75. This result marks the first blemish on Aquinas' conference record this season, moving to a 4-3 overall standing and a 2-1 conference record.

CUAA 76, AQ 75

The Saints ripped off a 10-0 run after threes from Jadakiss Lewis and Jacob Howard, along with a pair of Devon Boyd jumpers, gave AQ an early double-digit lead. However, CUAA responded with a run of its own and tied the game at 12-12 just a few minutes later.

From there, the rest of the half was characterized by Concordia slowly building a lead. After the first 20 minutes, CUAA held a 34-25 advantage. Boyd led the charge in the first half, scoring eight points and dishing out four assists.

Early in the second half, Concordia raced out to a 14-point lead, but that advantage did not last long. Over the next five minutes, the Saints went on a 16-2 run to completely erase the lead. Caden Pokorzynski led the attack with seven points over the run, including a commanding dunk to cut the lead to just two.

As the game continued to hum along, a majority of the offense came from Pokorzynski and Lewis. The pair combined for 38 points in the half with Lewis scoring 23 on 5-7 shooting from three and Pokorzynski adding 15. Two of those Lewis threes, and a pair of Kaleb Mitchelson free throws, came in the final minutes to help the Saints tie the game at 73-73 with just 34 seconds remaining. The Cardinals then proceeded to hold the ball for the full 30-second shot clock and hit a three with just a second on the clock to take a 76-73 lead.

CUAA went on to make a tactical foul and put AQ to the line for a pair of free throws, making it so that AQ could not attempt to tie the game with a three of its own. Despite Pokorzynski making both free throws, the game ended with Concordia ahead 76-75.

By the Numbers

• Lewis set a career-high with 29 points which featured six threes and 9-16 shooting from the field. He also had three boards, four assists, and a steal.
• Pokorzynski and Boyd also reached double-digits with the former scoring 19 and the latter scoring 15. Boyd has now scored at least 15 points in six of seven games this year. His nine assists tonight also give his 17 assists in the last two games.
• The two teams exploded for 92 combined points in the second half with Aquinas scoring 50.
• The Cardinals outshot the Saints (53.6% to 47.2%), but Aquinas capitalized on turnovers with greater efficiency, scoring 22 points off of CUAA's 15 turnovers.

Up Next

The Saints will be back on the road on Saturday (Nov. 30) for an exhibition match against the Grand Valley State Lakers. That game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.