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Lourdes University saw its 2014-2015 season come to a close on Thursday evening as the Gray Wolves suffered a 78-63 loss to fourth-ranked Cornerstone in the quarterfinals of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament at Mol Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"Our kids fought hard tonight, but we were just outmanned," head coach Andre Smith said afterwards.  "You can't get down 16 points to the fourth-ranked team at their place and expect to win."
 
After Lourdes scored on its opening possession, Cornerstone scored 22 of the next 26 points over a nine-minute span to jump out to a 22-6 lead at the 10:43 mark.  The Golden Eagles made seven of their first 11 shots from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range while building the advantage.
 
Jake DuPree's (Toledo, Ohio/Whiteford H.S.) three-pointer at the 9:59 mark ended the Cornerstone run and started a 9-0 spurt for Lourdes.  The Golden Eagles responded with five points of their own to push the lead back to 12 before E.J. Blackwell (Rochester, Pa./Rochester H.S.) picked up a loose ball offensive rebound and drained a 16-footer as the shot clock expired.
 
The basket started a personal 8-0 run from Blackwell as he followed that basket with an old-fashioned three-point play and a triple from the right corner to pull the Gray Wolves to within four, 27-23, with 4:03 to play before halftime.
 
Zach Steinmetz (Toledo, Ohio/Saint John's H.S.), who played most of the first half despite picking up his second foul with 11:03 remaining in the stanza, converted an and-one with just under two minutes to play to pull Lourdes within three.  After Ben Lanning made his third triple of the half for the Golden Eagles, Julian Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Horizon H.S.) answered with a long range shot as time expired to pull Lourdes to within 32-29 at the break.
 
Cornerstone scored the first five points of the second half to push the lead back to eight before Steinmetz hit a three and followed up with a lay-up inside.  Two straight steals followed by DuPree lay-ins gave Lourdes the lead, 38-37, with 15 minutes remaining in the contest. 
 
Kyle Steigenga answered with a three-point play inside to put the Golden Eagles back on top, starting a 7-0 run for the hosts.  Lourdes pulled back to within one, 44-43, on a jumper by Johnson with 11:43 to play before Cornerstone went on an 11-0 spurt over five minutes to extend the lead to 12 with under seven minutes remaining. 
 
"We got behind big early and it took so much out of us to climb back," Smith added.  "We don't have the quick hitters to score so it becomes a grind.  We ran out of energy."
 
Back-to-back three-pointers by Lanning, including one four-point play, increased the run to 23-2 as the Golden Eagles built a 67-45 lead with 4:22 remaining.  Steinmetz ended Lourdes eight minute scoring drought from the floor, scoring inside with 3:37 to play to make it a 67-50 game.
 
Blackwell drained a triple with 1:30 to play to pull Lourdes back within 12, 72-60, but that would be as close as the Gray Wolves would get the rest of the way.
 
Blackwell led Lourdes, the tournament's sixth seed, with 25 points, making all seven free throws, while Steinmetz added 13 more.  DuPree also tallied double figures with 10 points while Brillon Pritchett (Gary, Ind./McAdams [Miss.] H.S.) handed out six assists.
 
Lourdes finished the game shooting 43.8% from the floor while making 14-of-17 (82.4%) free throws.  The Gray Wolves committed 10 turnovers, but just two in the second half.
 
Steigenga led four Cornerstone (26-5) players in double figures with 21 points, going 7-for-7 from the floor, while Lanning added 20 points, making five triples.  Travis Wells chipped in 14 points and Cory Cox tallied 13 more for the Golden Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 47.8% from the field, including a 57.9% clip in the second half, making 11 three-pointers.  Cornerstone also connected on 23-of-28 (82.1%) from the charity stripe.
 
Cornerstone, the tournament's third seed, advanced to the semifinals to face second-seeded Northwestern Ohio on Saturday afternoon.  Lourdes sees its season come to an end with a 17-14 record.
 
The game marked the final contest in the careers of DuPree, Pritchett, and Noah Guthrie (Glouster, Ohio/Trimble H.S.), as well as Isiah Boddie (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne H.S.), who missed the contest due to injury.