Lourdes trailed by just one point at halftime on Saturday afternoon, but 55.6% shooting in the second half by Shawnee State allowed the Bears to score a 66-46 victory over the Gray Wolves in the final game of the MVNU Homecoming Classic held at Ariel Arena in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
 
"I was frustrated with the consistency of our effort today," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "We have to learn to compete with toughness, and work on defense even if shots aren't falling."
 
The Gray Wolves built an eight-point lead, 24-16, with five minutes to play in the first half following a 21-6 run over eight minutes.  Shawnee State responded before halftime though, scoring the final nine points of the stanza to take a 25-24 lead into the locker room.
 
"We showed some signs of life after digging a 10-3 hole early, responding to take the lead," Gibson added.  "Unfortunately, we allowed that lead to evaporate heading into halftime."
 
The Bears extended the run to 26 unanswered points after scoring the first 17 points of the second half in just over four minutes to push the lead to 18.  A 7-0 run by Lourdes later in the stanza pulled the Gray Wolves to within 11, 54-43, with 5:23 to play, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.
 
"It was more of the same in the second half, with poor offensive execution and shots that wouldn't fall," Gibson concluded.  "It's been a tough stretch, but experiencing adversity doesn't define you, it's the response to adversity that will.  We will find out how we will respond on practice Monday and Tuesday before we open WHAC play on Wednesday."
 
Darriontae Stewart (Cleveland, Ohio/Rhodes H.S.) scored 16 points for the Gray Wolves, the only Lourdes player with more than five points in the contest.  Lourdes shot just 29% from the floor, including just 21.1% (8-for-38) from three-point range.
 
Jayllen Carter led Shawnee State (2-2) with 17 points while Tamal Watkins added 16 points.  The Bears outrebounded Lourdes 43-26 for the game and went 19-of-31 from the free throw line compared with Lourdes' 2-for-6 effort.
 
Lourdes (1-5) closes out its six-game road trip on Wednesday evening, opening Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play at Aquinas.  Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.