ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich.--Senior guard
Brandon Beavers tallied a game-high 22 points, but visiting Lawrence Tech got off to a slow start and faced an efficient Rochester offense that spelled an 85-59 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference men's basketball loss to the Warriors at Garth Pleasant Arena on Saturday. The Blue Devils fall to 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the WHAC, while the Warriors--who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top-25--improve to 8-1 on the season and 3-1 in the conference.
Lawrence Tech Highlights
- Beavers went 9 for 14 from the field while adding four assists and two steals.
- Juniors Aaron Dolny and Cameron McEvans (5 rebounds, 2 steals) contributed 17 and 10 points, respectively.
- Senior Nathaniel Ward (8 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) led the squad with eight rebounds.
Rochester Highlights
- Gunner Walters paced the team with 21 points on 8 for 13 field goal shooting, dishing four assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
- Brody Parker (8 rebounds) and Anthony Cukaj chipped in 19 and 13 points, respectively.
- Stavros Polatoglou (9 points) led all playmakers with five assists and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
How it HappenedÂ
- The host Warriors jumped out to leads of 9-0 and 24-2 in the first half as the Blue Devils couldn't get on track.
- On the afternoon. LTU made 24 of 66 field goal attempts for 36.4 percent while RU went 32 of 62 for a 51.6 clip (including 10 of 23 from three-point range.
- After trailing at one point in the first half by 27 points, LTU did manage to cut into the deficit to get within seven at 46-39 on a Dolny 3ball with 17 minutes and 41 seconds left in the game.
- But 5 minutes later, the Warriors responded with a 15-7 run to increase the cushion to 61-46 at the 12:28 mark.
- The Warriors also enjoyed statistical advantages in rebounds (45-29), points off turnovers (20-13) and bench points (20-10).
Beyond the Boxscore
- Rochester has won 14 of the 16 meetings, including a 9-1 mark at home, between the teams.
- The 59 points scored by LTU are a season low for a squad that averaged over 80 points per game coming into today's action.
The Blue Devils will be at Concordia-Ann Arbor for their next WHAC matchup a week from Saturday, starting at 3 p.m.
