Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Aquinas College men's basketball team hosted the Chippewas of Central Michigan for an exhibition contest on Thursday (Dec. 5). The friendly contest was off to an exciting start as both teams began to trade runs back and forth for much of the first half. The Chippewas began to chip away at the Saint's defense and began to break away and went on to keep their distance for the remainder of the contest. In the end, the visitors from upstate took the friendly victory 93-69.
Central Michigan 93, Aquinas 69
The anticipation was mounting in the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center as Aquinas held this opportunity for Division I basketball to make its way to Grand Rapids. Coach Bo Court was filling up in spectators and excitement as both teams took to the floor and prepared for the tipoff.
With the whistle and the jump, CMU collected the ball first and looked to find their adage early. But the Saints were ready and forced a turnover, but ended up giving one back. The Chippewas found the first score of the contest on their second drive with a layup. AQ hustled back down the court and found a rebuttal and the lead with a kickback three from
Kaleb Mitchelson.
The two teams began trading runs as both looked to establish a run. AQ continued to capitalize on missed opportunities from the visitors and stepped out to a four-point lead on two occasions (17-13, 24-20). The Chippewas started to dial in and just outpace the Saints. CMU began to pull away with their point advantage close to 10 minutes into the first half. The remaining time saw the Chippewas fire up and take hold of the contest. With the final sound of the horn, CMU pushed their advantage to 52-32.
Entering the second half, the Chippewas kept their advantage as AQ looked to lessen the gap. Aquinas had a valiant competitive effort, but CMU continued to hold strong for the remainder of play. The Saints played on till the end and capped the evening off with the final score from a three-point buzzer by
Carson Kraiza to finalize the exhibition 93-69.
By the Numbers
- AQ kept the beat with the Chippewas as CMU narrowly outgunned the Saints with points in the paint, 32-28
- Aquinas capitalized on more missed opportunities as AQ earned more points off turnovers, 16-13
- The Saints made due at the line as they outshot the Chippewas at the line 71.4%-70.6%
- AQ was only four points shy of CMU's points scored in the second half, 41-37
- Aquinas had three Saints collect double digit points, Menalito McGee (12), David Day (11), and Jacob Howard (10)
Up Next
The Saints will kick it back into conference-play gear as the team will make way to Sylvania, Ohio, to take on Lourdes with a 3:00 p.m. tipoff on Saturday (Dec. 7).
