For the first time in program history, Lourdes defeated Rochester (Mich.) on Wednesday evening, downing the Warriors 81-71 inside of Garth Pleasant Arena in Rochester Hills, Mich.
 
With the victory, the Gray Wolves have now won nine of their last 10 regular season games overall, and moved to the .500 mark in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play.
 
"This team has showed a great deal of toughness after starting league play 0-5," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "They've done it by trying to stay in the moment and go 1-0 in every game.  There's not one game that can get you back to .500, just hard work, commitment, and working on improvement every time we take the floor."
 
Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) led four Gray Wolves in double figures, scoring 26 points, making 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Kadeim Jones (Dayton, Ohio/Marshall H.S.) just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
An early 9-1 run allowed Lourdes to take the lead 12-5 just over four minutes into the game.  The Gray Wolves remained in front until a 6-0 spurt by the Warriors put the hosts on top 33-32 with just over five minutes to play in the opening half.  Rochester's lead was short-lived, as Snow and Jones made back-to-back triples and the Gray Wolves would lead the rest of the way.
 
Holding a 40-37 lead at halftime, Lourdes came out of the break and scored the first nine points to push the lead to double figures.  The advantage grew to as many as 19, 71-52, following a Jones basket with 8:30 to play.  The Gray Wolves were able to withstand a late 10-1 run by the Warriors, as the hosts cut the lead to eight, 77-69, in the final minute.
 
Brett Lauf (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) scored 15 points while McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) added 12 more.
 
Lourdes shot 49.1% from the field on the evening, including 12-of-30 (40%) from three-point range while committing just nine turnovers.
 
"Rochester is a team that can really score," Gibson added.  "We were able to string together consecutive defensive stops after going up by double digits which allowed us to pull away.  This is something we were not able to do at Aquinas, and that shows improvement in this team."
 
Kash Blackwell led Rochester (11-11, 5-8 WHAC) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  The Warriors shot 44.1% from the floor, but just 29.6% (8-of-27) from three-point range. 
 
Lourdes (15-7, 6-6) returns home on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves host sixth-ranked Cornerstone.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.