Lourdes matched the second longest regular season winning streak in program history on Wednesday evening, defeating the University of Northwestern Ohio for its sixth straight victory, 79-72, inside of Racer Gymnasium in Lima, Ohio.
 
"Conference road wins are always really tough to come by," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "I'm proud of our effort tonight and the fact that we did not give up."
 
Northwestern Ohio jumped in front early, building a six-point advantage, 11-5, in the game's first six minutes.  Trailing 18-12, Lourdes tied the game on back-to-back three-pointers by Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) and Brett Lauf (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) to start a 10-0 run that put the Gray Wolves in front by four.
 
The Racers responded, scoring the next five points to retake the lead.  After the lead went back-and-forth several times, Lourdes went on another spurt, this time a 9-0 run, before halftime to build a 33-27 lead at halftime.
 
The hosts pulled even with under 12 minutes to play, knotting the game at 44, but Lourdes would never allow Northwestern Ohio to take the lead in the second half.  A 10-1 run for the Gray Wolves followed, pushing the lead back to nine.
 
The Lourdes advantage grew to as many as 14 in the second half, 67-53, but an 8-0 run by the Racers made it a six-point contest with just under four minutes to play.  Northwestern Ohio was never able to get closer than four the rest of the way though, as the Gray Wolves picked up their first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference road win of the year.
 
Snow led Lourdes with 25 points and nine rebounds while Kadeim Jones (Dayton, Ohio/Marshall H.S.) added 20 points and Lauf contributed 18 more.
 
Lourdes made 13 three-pointers in the game, and committed just eight turnovers on the night.
 
Nathan Lessing and Oslbey Mercer led Northwestern Ohio (5-13, 1-7 WHAC) with 17 points each while Willis Mackey, Jr. added 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
Lourdes (12-6, 3-5) returns home on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves entertain Lawrence Tech inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.  Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
 
"It's cliché, but the saying is one game at a time for a reason," Gibson added.  "The next game is always the most important one on the schedule.  We have a very tough LTU team coming into our place on Saturday and if we want to reach the conference tournament, we have to find a way to defend our home court."