Box Score
For the seventh time this season Lourdes University's defense held an opponent to less than 40 points on Thursday evening as the Gray Wolves earned a 52-39 victory over Siena Heights at Tam-o-Shanter to move back into a tie for second place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings.
 
The Gray Wolves have now tied the school record with six consecutive victories and have won 12 of their last 14 games overall.  Lourdes leads all of NAIA Division II allowing just 49.6 points per game while holding the opposition to just 36.1% shooting from the field.
 
“It was an ugly win but we will take it,” head coach Andre Smith said after the game.  “This was not a good performance for us from an execution standpoint.  If we want to become an elite team we need to clean some things up.  That being said, it is six in a row and any win in this league is a good win.”
 
Lourdes held the Saints to just 25% shooting from the floor for the game, including just 5-of-25 (20%) in the opening half.  The Gray Wolves also forced 16 Siena Heights turnovers which were converted into 23 points.
 
Trailing 10-7 nine minutes into the contest, Lourdes went on a 13-1 run over the next nine minutes to build a nine-point lead.  The Saints converted a three-point play in the final seconds of the half though to pull within 20-14 at the intermission.
 
The Gray Wolves scored the first six points of the second half to push the lead to 12 and maintained an eight to 12 point advantage until midway through the final 20 minutes.  An 8-0 run over 2:30 extended the advantage to 47-30 with 4:42 to play and Lourdes kept the lead in double figures the rest of the way.
 
“In the second half we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball,” Smith added.  “We had eight turnovers at the break and finished with just 11, so that was a positive.”
 
Corey Harvey (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson H.S.) led all scorers with 13 points for the Gray Wolves while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.  Alex Davis (Cleveland, Ohio/Nordonia H.S.), Elvin Butler (Akron, Ohio/East H.S.), and Ron Dukes (Saint Louis, Mo./North County Christian H.S.) added seven points each.  Lourdes outscored the Saints 30-8 in the paint.
 
Jamison Webster and Latwan Wesley led Siena Heights (7-18, 7-12 WHAC) with 11 points each while JaVon Flowers pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Lourdes (19-7, 14-5) will look for its seventh consecutive victory, and 20^th overall in 2012-2013, on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves host Marygrove.  Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at Tam-o-Shanter.