Box Score GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University men's basketball team (6-4, 2-3) stumbled on the road vs. the Saints of Aquinas (Mich.) College (3-10, 1-5) by a score of 59-81. The strong offense performance by the Saints kept the Blue Devils from making a run at any point in the game. The Blue Devils shot 45.7% from the field, but the Saints were on fire making 58.2% of their shots.
The two teams started out the game trading buckets for the first five and a half minutes, making the game 11-11 with 14:30 remaining in the half. It was here that the Saints made their first run of the night, scoring eight straight to go ahead 19-11. Carter Frantz ended the Saints' run by hitting his first three pointer of the night to make the score 19-14 in favor of the Saints. The Blue Devils struggled to find their rhythm offensively and never really were able to get back within one possession for the remainder of the half. The Saints were able to extend their lead to 15 points, 33-18, with just over five minutes left to play. The Blue Devils, down 15, needed to find a way to get their offense going. Sanna Sisawo grabbed his first two points thanks to a layup, and on the next Blue Devils possession, Jordan Henry sank a three point shot to pull the Blue Devils within 12. Gunnar Gustafson would go 1-2 from the free throw line, followed by a steal from Dewayn Allen, resulted in another bucket from Henry to bring the deficit back down to single digits with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Each team would score points via the free throw to end the half. Entering the break, the Blue Devils found themselves down 12 points, 27-39.
It was not the ideal start for the Blue Devils, as the Saints went two consecutive possessions with hitting shots from beyond the arc, and that was the beginning of a Saints' 19-3 through the first 6:40, making the score 30-58. The Blue Devils did not give up, Brandon Beavers made a layup, and Coach Pickens called a timeout to get a message to his guys, and it was well received. The Blue Devils, with Beavers' layup, would go on a 12-0 run to make the score 42-58, and it felt as if this was the start of a great comeback by the Blue Devils. However, that was not the case. The Saints' offense could not be held in check any longer. The two teams would trade buckets, but eventually the deficit grew back up to 20 points. The Blue Devil deficit would remain between 16-20 points for the remainder of the game, and the game would end with the score 59-81 in favor of the Saints.
The real story of the game was the differential in points scored inside the paint. The Saints were able to score 20 more points within close range of the basket compared to the Blue Devils, which resulted in the large gap in shooting percentage. Gustafson went 5-5 from the field for 12 points, and also scoring 12 points on the evening was Carter Frantz, nine points coming courtesy of the long ball.
The Blue Devils will be back in action next Saturday, December 14th, as the host the Wolverines of Michigan-Dearborn. It will be the first game back at the Don Ridler field house since November 23rd. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00pm EST.
