Box Score
Trailing by one at halftime, Northwestern Ohio opened the second half with a 31-7 run over the first 10 minutes and defeated Lourdes 64-48 on Wednesday evening at Tam-o-Shanter.
 
The Racers shot 53.8% from the floor in the second half and held Lourdes to just 26.9% shooting during the same timeframe.
 
The first half was tight throughout, with Northwestern Ohio holding the largest lead of the stanza at 5-0.  The lead changed hands five times during the first 20 minutes, with Lourdes taking its first advantage, 10-9, at the 8:17 mark.  The Gray Wolves built their largest lead at three, 17-14, following a three-pointer by Elvin Butler (Akron, Ohio/East H.S.) before settling for a one-point advantage, 22-21, at the break.
 
Northwest Ohio needed less than 30 seconds out of the locker room to take the lead for good, and scored 16 of the first 18 points of the second half to build a 13-point lead by the 14:55 mark.  The advantage grew to 23, 52-29, at the 9:43 mark before a late 7-0 run by Lourdes cut the deficit to 14 with under six minutes to play, the closest the Gray Wolves would get the rest of the way.
 
Butler led Lourdes with 14 points off of the bench while Eric Worthey (Cleveland, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian H.S.) was the only other Gray Wolf to score in double figures, tallying 13 points.  Zach Steinmetz (Toledo, Ohio/Saint John's H.S.) helped Lourdes stay even on the boards, grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
Lourdes committed 14 turnovers, leading to 17 UNOH points while shooting just 34% from the floor for the night.
 
Johnny Elliott led Northwestern Ohio (18-7, 14-5 WHAC) with 24 points while Ed Jenkins added 13 more.  Derrick Tate also tallied double figures with 10 points on the night.
 
Lourdes (14-13, 9-10) will close out the road portion of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, traveling to Grand Rapids, Mich. to battle fourth-ranked Cornerstone.  Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at Mol Arena.