Grand Rapids, Mich. — It was a night to celebrate, on and off the court, as AQ defeated the Blue Devils 84-72 on Faith and Family Night. Strong defense and a great night from the free throw line helped seal the deal.

Aquinas 84, Lawrence Tech 72

Right from the start, the Saints showed they came to play against the Lawrence Tech squad.  Caden Pokorzynski grabbed the rebound and found Terrance Jones, who hit a medium jumper to give AQ an early lead, and Kaleb Mitchelson split a pair from the free throw line, putting the Saints on top 5-0.

With 11:23 to go in the first half, Lawrence Tech took their only lead of the game on a Luka Uzelac lay-up, but Devon Boyd answered with a lay-up of his own and the Saints recaptured the lead 17-16, a lead they would never relinquish.  The Blue Devils made a run near the end of the first half, but Ryan Weir scored his only points of the game, with a triple, and 36-30 lead at half time.
 
Coach Ryan Bertoia said the results come from a great week of practice, "This feels great.  We challenged the guys all week to play harder and compete more.  Lawrence Tech was playing for first place in the conference and our guys executed, I'm very proud of them."

In the second half, AQ did a great job of distributing the ball but playing strong on both ends of the court.  Jadakiss Lewis was playing with passion, during a five minute stretch he had seven of his 15 points and three defensive rebounds, to squash any chance Lawrence Tech had of winning the game. Following a Mitchelson defensive board, a slam dunk from Lewis sent the Saints fans home happy.

With the win, AQ improves to 9-7, 5-4 in the WHAC.  Tonight's game was graciously sponsored by Robinson's Popcorn.
 

By the Numbers 

• Pokorzynski had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Jadakiss Lewis also had 15 points.

• Boyd had a team high 20 points to go along with three rebounds and assists and was 7-7 from the line.

• Great night at the charity stripe for Aquinas as they went 18-21 85.7%  
   

Up Next 

The Saints look to increase the win streak on Wednesday, January 15, when they host UM-Dearborn. It's a 7:00 p.m. start or 30 minutes after the girls game.