The Gray Wolf men's basketball team rallied from a 42-33 deficit at halftime to pick up a big 77-74 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference on Saturday afternoon in Dearborn.
 
"It really felt like we played two different games today," said head coach Josh Gibson. "We weren't focused defensively in the first half and our offense wasn't clicking either. I really challenged the team at halftime and they responded. I have to give those guys all the credit for the way they answered the call in the second half. They played with great intensity and defensive execution and that led to some scoring for us. This was a great victory on the road."
 
Lourdes assured itself of its first winning season since the 2014-15 campaign with the victory over UMD.
 
On the opening possession of the contest, Kadeim Jones (Dayton, Ohio/Marshall) took a pass from McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights) and nailed a jumper to take give Lourdes a 2-0 lead. The Wolverines (8-16, 6-9 WHAC) responded with a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 lead with just over three minutes gone in the first half.
 
Jones hit a layup before a Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) three-pointer cut the lead to 9-7 with 15:33 left in the first half. The hosts would answer with a 9-3 run to push their lead to 18-10 with 13:12 left in the first half.
 
Lourdes was able to cut the gap to one point on two separate occasions during the first half, but Dearborn scored the final four points to run their lead to 42-33 at the break.
 
The Wolverines picked up where they left off in the first half, nailing the opening three-pointer of the second half and using an 8-4 run to take a 50-37 lead with 16:28 left in the contest.
 
Back-to-back layups from White sparked a 6-0 run for the Gray Wolves capped by a layup from Snow to help Lourdes get within 50-43 with 14:57 left.
 
After UMD pushed their lead to 55-45, Jones completed an and-one and sparked a Lourdes run that would pull the visitors within 55-53 with just under 10 minutes left in the contest.
 
The Wolverines would hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 57-53, but Snow went on a personal 5-0 run and gave Lourdes its first lead since the opening bucket of the contest, as the Gray Wolves pulled ahead 58-57 with 5:50 remaining.
 
Michigan-Dearborn was able to regain control at the 2:56 mark of the second half, pulling ahead 63-62, but Snow found White for an emphatic dunk on the ensuing possession to give Lourdes the lead for good.
 
The hosts would threaten late, but Jones went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 15 seconds to close out the victory and help Lourdes hold on for the 77-74 triumph.
 
Snow finished with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Jones went off for 24 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Gray Wolves finished 28-of-62 (45.2%) from the floor and nailed nine three-point field goals. The Wolverines hit 28-of-59 (47.5%) shots from the field, including 13 from deep range.
 
Lourdes edged UMD in the rebound battle by a 35-30 margin.
 
The Gray Wolves (16-8, 7-7 WHAC) return to action at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening as they host Siena Heights inside the Ebeid Recreation Center.