On Wednesday night the Lourdes University Gray Wolves defeated the defending National Champions of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI. 67-58. The Gray Wolves moved into the semi-finals of the WHAC Tournament with the victory.

The first half started out with the Gray Wolves grabbing the tip and getting a quick turnover before clamping down on defense with their next possession. The Gray Wolves would strike first after a Marcus Outlaw layup that he would then follow up with an emphatic dunk to make it 4-2 at the time. 
 
At the first media timeout in the half the Gray Wolves would lead 10-5. Lourdes played a high pace defense that left Cornerstone scratching their head for answers early on.
 
The Golden Eagles would battle back to within two points at 12-10 but Senior John Willhite had an answer with a beautiful floater in the lane to push the lead back to 4. The Golden Eagles would fight back into the lead with a three pointer by Wes Hudson at 17-16 and would then follow it up with another two pointer to lead 19-16 and force a Lourdes timeout.
 
Midway through the first half Lourdes would shoot 41% from the field with Cornerstone at 50%. Senior John Willhite led the scoring attack for Lourdes with 10.
 
The Golden Eagles would start to find their way outside and connect on three pointers as the Golden Eagles were 4 of 7 to build a lead of 27-20 with five minutes remaining in the half.
 
At the halftime intermission John Willhite had 10 points to lead the Gray Wolves. Corey Harvey had 2 points but led the team with 5 rebounds and two assists. The Gray Wolves would come up empty behind the three point line as they went 0-6 while Cornerstone went 4 for 7 from downtown.
 
As a team the Gray Wolves would shoot 40% from the field on 11 of 27 attempts while Cornerstone would be at 50% on 12 of 24 attempts. Each team had 7 turnovers. Lourdes would be out worked on the glass as Cornerstone would grab 17 rebounds to the Gray Wolves 12.
 
The Gray Wolves would start the second half on fire as they would open up on a 6-0 run to tie the game up at 32 apiece. Elvin Butler would connect on his first attempt and also add a pair of free throws during the run.
 
With 14:45 remaining in regulation the Gray Wolves John Willhite would give the Gray Wolves the lead at 37-36 making 1 of 2 free throws.
 
Lourdes would increase their lead to 8 at 44-36 behind strong free throw shooting and stifling defensive pressure holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for over seven minutes.
 
A 4-0 run by the Golden Eagles would cut the lead down to six for the Gray Wolves at 46-40 with six minutes remaining to force a Lourdes timeout.
 
The Gray Wolves would answer though with Jake Dupree jumper to push it back to 48-40.
 
Back and forth things would go in the four minute mark with Elvin Butler connecting on two free throws and then a quick basket the other way for the Golden Eagles. A turnover by Lourdes would lead to another quick bucket for Cornerstone to cut the lead to 52-46.
 
Lourdes would hold the lead at 58-50 with 1:20 remaining until Cornerstone would make a quick two and scrappy Remy Fleurima would go to the free throw line and hit two big free throws after pulling down a rebound in traffic.
 
The Gray Wolves would hold on down the stretch hitting their free throws to win the game 67-58.
 
“I'm so proud of the way the guys played tonight. We came out knowing it's one and done from here on and we played together like a family. We will enjoy this for a couple hours but tomorrow it's right back to work” said Head Coach Andre Smith after the game.
 
Lourdes would be led in scoring by John Willhite with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Marcus Outlaw dropped 14 points and 3 big time blocks. Corey Harvey contributed 5 points and three rebounds and Elvin Butler with 10 points.

The Gray Wolves will play at Concordia University on Saturday after they beat Madonna University at Madonna on Wednesday night.