Lima Oh. – The Aquinas College men's basketball team delivered a complete performance on the road, defeating the University of Northwestern Ohio 87–59 in WHAC action on Saturday (Jan. 31). An early morning shoot around proved valuable for the Saints, who came out locked in from the opening tip. Aquinas jumped out to an early lead and maintained control for the entirety of the contest.
Aquinas 87, UNOH 59
Tjay Jones opened the scoring with a jumper before Cameron Moore knocked down a three-pointer to give the Saints a quick 5–2 advantage. After UNOH trimmed the margin to one, Aquinas responded with a seven-point run sparked by a jumper from Kaleb Mitchelson and layups from Caden Pokorzynski and Jacob Howard to push the lead to 12–4.
The Racers mounted a brief rally to make it 14–12, but the Saints answered once again. Jones poured in four points, Pokorzynski added a layup, and David Day connected from beyond the arc to extend the lead to 23–12. Aquinas continued to dictate the tempo and carried a 32–22 advantage into halftime.
The Saints opened the second half on a dominant stretch, led by Devon Boyd, who scored the first 10 points of the half for Aquinas, including two three-pointers. Jones and Pokorzynski followed with jumpers as the lead grew to 48–32.
Despite continued effort from UNOH, Aquinas kept its foot on the gas. Howard converted two free throws, Pokorzynski finished at the rim, and Day drilled another three to give the Saints a commanding 58–38 cushion. Day and Pokorzynski later combined to extend the margin to 25 at 65–40.
Aquinas never looked back down the stretch. Jordan Bledsoe added a layup, while Boyd and Pokorzynski knocked down four free throws to push the advantage to 74–48. Pokorzynski capped the night with a dunk, Moore hit another triple, and Charlie Anderson and Samuel Jacobs added late buckets as the Saints closed out the 87–59 victory.
Head coach Ryan Bertoia praised his team's preparation and effort following the win.
"I was really proud of the way our guys approached today," said Bertoia. "We were focused in our preparation, we shared the basketball, and we defended at a high level the entire game. When we play with that kind of discipline and energy, we're a tough team to beat. This was a great step forward for us."
By the Numbers
Up Next
The Saints return to the road on February 4, traveling to Dearborn for a 7:30 p.m. match-up against UM-Dearborn.
