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Lourdes played Cornerstone tighter than any other Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference team has thus far this season on Wednesday evening, but the second-ranked Golden Eagles defeated the Gray Wolves 72-64 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"I thought we really battled and competed tonight," head coach Josh Gibson said after the game.  "There were several times I thought we could have packed it in but we didn't, and I'm proud of that effort.  If we can play with this focus and intensity all the time we will have a chance to win some games in this league."
 
The Gray Wolves hung with Cornerstone early, forcing five turnovers in the game's first six minutes.  Lourdes led by as many as five early following a McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) lay-in to make it 11-6 at the 12:40 mark. 
 
A basket inside by Hamish Abbott (Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary) at the 9:18 mark had Lourdes in front 15-12, but that would be the last field goal the Gray Wolves would score until a Xavier Cheek (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor H.S.) layup as time was expiring in the half.  Cornerstone went on a 14-1 run during the nine-minute span, building a 32-18 lead at the break.
 
The Golden Eagles pushed the lead to as many as 21, 41-20, coming out of the locker room before the Gray Wolves battled back.  A three-pointer by Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) pulled Lourdes to within 12, 53-41, with just over eight minutes to play, but Cornerstone responded with a triple of its own followed by a steal and lay-in to push the lead back to 17 within 10 seconds.
 
Lourdes fell behind by 19 with six minutes to play, and still trailed by 16, 68-52, with 2:17 to play when Jordan Fabry (Shalersville, Ohio/Crestwood H.S.) scored eight straight points, including a pair of three-pointers, to cut the deficit in half at the 1:09 mark.  The Gray Wolves were unable to get any closer the rest of the way though.
 
Fabry led Lourdes with a career-high 18 points, making 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while Kadeim Jones (Dayton, Ohio/Marshall H.S.) added 13 points, making 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
 
"I thought we got some big contributions from our freshmen tonight," Gibson added.  "Jordan shot the ball really well which is what we have seen from him each day in practice."
 
Lourdes finished the game shooting 36.5% from the floor, but committed just 10 turnovers on the night.  Cornerstone connected at a 51.1% clip from the field, but shot just 47.1% from the free throw line despite attempting 34 charity tosses (making 16).  The Golden Eagles also committed 17 turnovers, which led to 21 Lourdes points.
 
Kyle Steigenga led Cornerstone (11-2, 5-0 WHAC) with 23 points and 11 rebounds while Sam Vander Sluis added 15 points and 13 boards for the Golden Eagles, as the visitors outrebounded the Gray Wolves 42-30 on the night.
 
Lourdes (4-7, 0-5) begins a four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves travel to the Schaefer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. to battle fifth-ranked Indiana Tech.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.