Lourdes trailed by 22 points with under 14 minutes to play on Saturday afternoon, rallied to close within one, but could not find the tying basket, and dropped its season opener to Spring Arbor 65-63 at the SAU Fieldhouse in Spring Arbor, Mich.
 
Zach Steinmetz (Toledo, Ohio/Saint John's H.S.) was the lone Gray Wolf to score in double figures, tallying 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting, while grabbing 11 rebounds for a double-double.  Stephen Couvillion (Baton Rouge, La./Christian Life H.S.), making his Gray Wolf debut, added nine points.
 
Spring Arbor raced out to a 20-2 lead in less than eight minutes into the contest and maintained a 16 to 21 point advantage the rest of the half.  The Cougars took a 43-25 lead into the locker room after shooting 57.7% from the floor while draining five three-pointers.
 
Lourdes scored the first six points out of the break to close to within 12 before Spring Arbor responded with a 14-4 run to take a 57-35 lead with 13:24 to play.  The Gray Wolves went to work offensively, scoring 14 straight points over the next four minutes to cut its deficit to single digits, 57-49.
 
Trailing by nine, 60-51, with 6:33 to play, the Gray Wolves scored seven unanswered points to pull within two at the 4:35 mark following a pair of E.J. Blackwell (Rochester, Pa./Rochester H.S.) free throws.  After the Cougars pushed the lead back to four, neither team scored for nearly three minutes heading into the final minute of the contest.  A Blackwell basket with 21 seconds remaining made it 63-61.
 
Lourdes fouled and Spring Arbor split a pair at the line before Steinmetz scored in the lane with six ticks remaining on the clock.  After another quick foul, the Cougars made the first free throw with five seconds to play before missing the second.  The hosts grabbed the offensive board though to run out the clock.
 
Jake DuPree (Toledo, Ohio/Whiteford H.S.) handed out eight assists in 36 minutes of action for the Gray Wolves as Lourdes finished the night with 18 assists and just 13 turnovers.  The Gray Wolves shot 48.1% in the second half while holding the Cougars to a 35.0% clip to claw back into the contest.
 
Xavier Prather led Spring Arbor (2-0) with 16 points and nine rebounds while Thomas Starks added 10 points and eight boards for the Cougars.
 
Lourdes (0-1) will return to the hardwood on Friday evening as the Gray Wolves face Judson in the opening round of the Maple City Classic.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the SHU Fieldhouse in Adrian, Mich. on the campus of Siena Heights.