The Lourdes University men's basketball team was on the road Saturday afternoon looking for another victory in their pursuit of a WHAC Tourney title and a chance to reach the National Tournament. The Gray Wolves would have to knock off the Cardinals of Concordia University to get there. The Cardinals had defeated the Gray Wolves in two previous meetings during the regular season already but they would not be able to make it three in a row as the Gray Wolves would come out victorious 62-58.
 
The opening tip went to Lourdes with Marcus Outlaw passing it to Remy Fleurima. The Gray Wolves would take advantage of the opening series connecting on an Elvin Butler 3 pointer. Corey Harvey and Remy would contribute early on helping the Gray Wolves keep pace at 10 to 10. A Corey Harvey 3 pointer would give Lourdes a 15-10 advantage at the midway point of the first half.
 
The Gray Wolves would slow things down just a bit following a Lourdes timeout and start to run their sets on the offensive end and would jump out to a seven point lead at 17-10. The Cardinals wouldn't back down though connecting on three pointers on consecutive trips to cut the advantage to one before an emphatic Elvin Butler dunk would electrify the Gray Wolves faithful in attendance. With 6 minutes remaining in the half the Gray Wolves would hold a slight three point advantage.
 
The last few minutes of the half saw both team's trade buckets and fouls as Lourdes would hold a five point lead with a minute remaining at 31-26. Lourdes would lead 31-26 at the halftime break.
 
Corey Harvey would pace the Gray Wolves in the first half with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Elvin Butler would have 7 points and John Willhite would have 5.
 
The Cardinals would be led by John Schaeffer with 9 points on three 3 pointers on 7 attempts. Rocko Holmes and Chad McMullen would each have 5 points.
 
Lourdes would dominate the boards in the half 21 to 12 for Concordia. Each team would commit 8 turnovers in the half.
 
The second half would see a quick burst out of the gate for both teams but Lourdes would hold a slim margin with 16 minutes remaining at 38-37.
 
With 12:54 remaining Concordia was forced to use a timeout after Lourdes would open up a 7 point advantage at 46-39 after a great steal and finish by John Willhite.
 
The Cardinals would tie things up at 46 apiece at the 10:47 mark following an old fashioned three point play.
 
Concordia would take their first lead of the half at 50-49 with 8:09 remaining in the game after a nifty reverse layup.
 
Kenny Smith would answer for the Gray Wolves following a miss with a rebound and put back. Back and forth the two teams would go until Marcus Outlaw would put another big dunk on his young resume and both teams tied up at 55-55 with 5:30 remaining in regulation.
 
The two teams would exchange buckets over the next couple of minutes with tough defensive play Lourdes would hold a slim advantage at 59-58 with 2 minutes remaining.
 
John Willhite would give the Gray Wolves a three point lead after hitting to clutch free throws with 1:21 remaining.
 
Lourdes would hang on in the final seconds and win 62-58 and advance to the WHAC Tournament Championship game on Monday night at Davenport University.
 
With the victory against Concordia the Gray Wolves have qualified for the National Tournament in Point Lookout, MO. on March 7^th.
 
The Gray Wolves were led in scoring by John Willhite with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Corey Harvey would finish with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Lourdes shot just 37% from the field connecting on 23 of 62 shots. Lourdes out rebounded the Cardinals 46-32. Lourdes would hit 6 of 12 3 pointers in the game while Concordia would hit 7 of 24 from beyond the arc.