Zach Steinmetz (Toledo, Ohio/Saint John's H.S.) became the first Gray Wolf in program history to reach 1,000 career points on Saturday afternoon, and Lourdes rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Akron Wayne 88-62 at the Boyer Health & PE Center in Orrville, Ohio.
 
"Akron Wayne played great today," head coach Andre Smith said afterwards.  "They were well prepared and played hard.  We were fortunate our reserves played well and brought us a lot of energy."
 
Lourdes took an early 12-6 lead over the Warriors at the 10:40 mark of the first half before the hosts went on a big run.  An 18-4 spurt in just over four minutes gave Akron Wayne a 24-16 lead and the Gray Wolves were only able to close within three, 36-33, by halftime.
 
The Gray Wolves hot 51.7% from the floor in the first half, but committed 13 turnovers which allowed Akron Wayne to hold the advantage.  Lourdes would then commit just two miscues over the final 20 minutes while pulling out the victory.
 
Lourdes scored the first five points out of the locker room and retook the lead on a dunk by E.J. Blackwell (Rochester, Pa./Rochester H.S.), and would not relinquish the advantage the rest of the way.  The Gray Wolves led just 41-40 with 16 minutes to play before scoring the game's next 22 points over seven-plus minutes.  Steinmetz reached the 1,000-point mark during the run, with the basket coming with 12:52 to play.
 
After building the large lead, Lourdes would not allow its advantage to fall below 19 points the rest of the game.  The Gray Wolves shot 66.7% in the second half to finish at 58.9% from the floor while holding the Warriors to just a 22.9% clip over the final 20 minutes.
 
Blackwell led Lourdes with 23 points, making 11 free throws, while Anthony Swanigan (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) added 20 points, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor.  Hamish Abbott (Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary H.S.) chipped in 16 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting while Darrionate Stewart (Cleveland, Ohio/Rhodes H.S.) contributed 12 points in a reserve role.
 
Demetrius Ray led Akron Wayne (0-1) with 23 points and eight rebounds.  Lourdes outrebounded the Warriors 41-31 for the night, with Steinmetz pulling down a game-high 10 boards for the Gray Wolves.
 
Lourdes (3-0) is off to its best start in program history and will return to Tam-o-Shanter next Saturday for the home and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opener.  Tip-off against Cornerstone, ranked number one in NAIA, has been moved back to approximately 8 p.m. following the WHAC volleyball championship.