Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ men's basketball team faced off against UM-Dearborn in a chippy battle this afternoon (Feb. 10). UMD rallied in the second half to take a late lead and looked to be on the brink of pulling off a massive upset. However, Ryan Weir clutched up a corner three with four seconds left on the clock to put AQ ahead 84-83. The Wolverines put up a heavily contested shot to win, but the ball went off the backboard and away to secure the win for Aquinas.

AQ improves to 13-11 with a 10-8 conference record after surviving a scare today.

Aquinas 84, UM-Dearborn 83

The game got off to a loud start. Aquinas won the opening tip-off and got the ball to Donovan Brown-Boyd, who threw it down for a dunk to kick off the game. Brown-Boyd hit a three and then Jared Lary jammed a dunk of his own to put the crowd on their feet.

AQ's hot start continued throughout the first half. AQ couldn't miss, scoring at a rate of 60.6% from the field. Brown-Boyd led the way in scoring during the first period of play, scoring 16 points and helping to put the Saints ahead by as much as 23 with four minutes to go. However, a bit of a late run from the Wolverines began to turn the tides of the match as AQ went into halftime ahead 49-35.

The Wolverines continued their run into the second half to score the first 12 points and reduce the deficit to just two. Weird connected on a three to stop the run, followed by a Bennett Sinner layup and a Tommy Gregwer three to re-establish a six-point edge. Sinner and Lary both scored a pair of free throws to give AQ a double-digit lead back with just under 12 to go.

UMD regrouped and pulled together a 15-3 run over the ensuing four minutes of play to take its first lead of the game. After comfortably leading for most of the game, AQ strung together some gritty possessions to keep the Saints in the game. The two teams continued to battle back and forth, maintaining a one-possession game.

With the game tied at 77 and with 38 seconds remaining on the clock, the Wolverines scored a three to give them a late lead. A crazy series of plays ensued.

Devon Boyd drove to the rim and got fouled on a quick AQ possession and he converted both of his free throws to put Aquinas within one. UMD responded with a pair of free throws of its own, but Lary raced back down the court and scored a quick layup off of a nice cut-step to bring the game back within one.

Boyd fouled Jackson Reynolds of Dearborn and he missed one of the free throws, opening the door for Aquinas to score a potential game-winner. With four seconds left on the clock, Weir put up a step-back three in the corner and drained it to put AQ ahead at the last second. Dearborn was unable to respond and AQ walked off the court the victors.

By the Numbers

AQ ended the day shooting 49.2% from the field and 37.9% from three. Aquinas moved the ball around well today, leading in assists (19-12), blocks (1-0), and steals (9-4). The Saints also had a stronger contribution from the bench (22-8) and scored more points in the paint (34-26).

Brown-Boyd ended the day with 23 points after scoring 16 in the first half. He shot 7-18 from the field while grabbing seven rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal.

Lary finished with 17 points on 6-12 shooting with seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Boyd and Gregwer both had 12 points and three rebounds. Boyd also had six assists and two steals. Gregwer added an assist and a steal to his stat line.

Up Next

AQ is back on the road this week with games on Wednesday (Feb. 14) and Saturday (Feb. 17). The Saints take on UNOH on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Madonna on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.