Lourdes tipped off Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action on Wednesday night, dropping an 86-59 decision to Aquinas at the Sturrus Sports and Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
Levert Bristol (Dothan, Ala./Northview H.S.) and Najeeb Johnson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights H.S.) led a trio of Gray Wolves in double figures with 13 points each while Malik Thurman (Dayton, Ohio/Stebbins H.S.) added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds off of the bench.
 
"I was disappointed with our execution tonight," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "We played with better effort, but we failed to execute our game plan on both ends of the court.  In conference play you have such a small margin for error, the details make a huge difference."
 
The first half was close most of the way, with the Gray Wolves trailing by just two, 27-25, with 2:46 to play before intermission.  The Saints closed the stanza with a 10-2 spurt though to build a 39-29 advantage at the break.
 
After Aquinas extended the lead to 17 early in the second half, Lourdes battled back, closing to within 11, 50-39, at the 15-minute mark.  An 11-3 run by the Saints pushed the lead to 19 points, and the Gray Wolves were unable to make a late rally.
 
Lourdes shot just 35.8% from the floor and was 12-of-20 (60%) from the free throw line.  Aquinas shot 50.8% from the field, including 12-of-20 from three-point range, in the win.
 
Jake Bullock led Aquinas (3-3, 1-0 WHAC) with 20 points while Jeremy Williamson added 19 points.  Opeyemi Sholesi pulled down 10 rebounds as the Saints outrebounded Lourdes 44-28 for the night.
 
Lourdes (1-6, 0-1) will return home after playing six straight road games to host Michigan-Dearborn on Saturday afternoon.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.