It was the biggest game of the season for the Lourdes University Men's Basketball team on Monday night in Grand Rapids, MI. The Gray Wolves were playing in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament Championship with a chance to help their seeding for the National Tournament. The Gray Wolves had already made it to Nationals now it was about respect in the conference and sending a message to everyone around the nation that these Gray Wolves were hungry for a title.
 
The Gray Wolves would fall on the night by a final score of 52-42.
 
The first half would not start well at all for the Gray Wolves as they would bury themselves with turnover after turnover from the full court press and pressure defense from the Panthers. The Gray Wolves would fall behind 17-0 in the first 8 minutes before J. D. Parker would hit a deep 3 pt. basket to get the Gray Wolves on the board.
 
The Gray Wolves would hang tough at the midway point in the half trailing by 10 after a steal and a quick Marcus Outlaw layup on the other end. Lourdes would trail 19-9.
 
The two teams would battle back and forth exchanging baskets over the next five minutes with the Gray Wolves getting the lead for Davenport down to eight with five minutes remaining in the half after another Marcus Outlaw basket.
 
The Gray Wolves would climb back into the game and play more their style four of the last five minutes eating the shot clock down to climb within 7 at 22-15 after an emphatic Marcus Outlaw dunk. The Panthers would crank things up though and hit a couple of quick shots in a row to push the lead to 11 at 26-15.
 
The halftime score would be Davenport 28 and Lourdes 17. Lourdes leading scorer would be Marcus Outlaw with 6 points. Lourdes would commit 10 turnovers in the half and shoot 32% from the floor. Davenport would shoot 39% from the floor and would be led by Lonnie Fairfax with 8 points.
 
Marcus Outlaw would pick up where he left off the first half driving to the lane and getting a 3 point play the old fashioned way at the free throw line to cut the lead to 8. The Gray Wolves would cut the lead to 6 points before a mini run by Davenport would push it back to an 11 point lead with 14:23 remaining in the half.
 
The Gray Wolves would cut into the lead down to 8 points after a nifty pass from John Willhite to Jake Dupree inside. A quick turnover would cut the lead even further down to 6 points at 38-32 with Kedsed Desamour easy layup.
 
The two teams would exchange buckets for a bit before another run by Davenport would push their lead back to 11 points at 45-34 with 5:29 remaining in regulation.
 
The final minutes would see Davenport get a couple of buckets off of turnovers and force the Gray Wolves to foul and send the Panthers to the free throw line. The Gray Wolves would fall in the game 52-42.
 
The Gray Wolves would finish in 2^nd place in the WHAC Tournament with the loss but will be playing in the National Tournament on March 7^th in Point Lookout, MO.
 
The Gray Wolves would pick up some post season hardware with Remy Fleurima getting the Champions of Character Award, Corey Harvey with the WHAC All-Academic Team and the WHAC All-Newcomer Team, John Willhite with the WHAC All-Defensive Team and 3^rd Team All-WHAC.
 
The bracket for the NAIA Tournament will be released on Wednesday night after 7pm on www.NAIA.org.