After playing 18^th-ranked Indiana Tech even for the opening 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon, Lourdes saw the Warriors pull away late to defeat the Gray Wolves 74-60 at the Schaeffer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
"We fought hard today against a good Indiana Tech team," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "The contest was closer than the final score indicated as we fouled in the last few minutes and tried to extend the game.  Our effort was good enough, but we had too many mental errors that all seemed to lead to points for them.  When you face a ranked opponent, especially on the road, you have to have great effort and combine ti with execution, and that's where we fell a little short today."
 
Lourdes built a 16-10 lead midway through the first half following an Anthony Swanigan (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) jumper which capped a 7-0 Gray Wolf run.  The Warriors responded with an 11-2 run to retake the lead, and the lead see-sawed throughout the remaining seven minutes of the first half before the two schools went into the locker room knotted at 32.
 
A 12-1 run over the first four minutes of the second half broke the game open for Indiana Tech as the Warriors took a 44-33 lead.  After the Gray Wolves battled back to within eight with under 11 minutes to play, the hosts extended the lead again, this time pushing the advantage to 16, 59-43, with six minutes remaining.  Lourdes cut its deficit to 10 by the four minute mark, but was unable to get any closer down the stretch.  Indiana Tech made all 10 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the win.
 
Najeeb Johnson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights H.S.) led Lourdes with 14 points while Malik Thurman (Dayton, Ohio/Stebbins H.S.) added 12 points off of the bench, making all six of his shot attempts from the floor.
 
Lourdes committed just six turnovers on the evening, but was outrebounded by the Warriors 34-28.  Swanigan led the Gray Wolves with 12 boards.
 
Miles Robinson led four Indiana Tech (18-6, 13-3 WHAC) players in double figures, finishing with 18 points while Jantzen Goodwin and Scott Schwieterman added 13 points each.  The Warriors committed just five miscues in the game.
 
Lourdes (4-19, 3-13) will continue its road trip on Wednesday evening, heading to Grand Rapids, Mich. to battle top-ranked Cornerstone.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Mol Arena.