Photo Gallery

Lourdes battled back from a 20-point second half deficit to take the lead, but 24^th-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) was able to pull out a 72-70 victory over the Gray Wolves on Tuesday night inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
Leading 43-26 at halftime, the Cougars opened the second half with a three-pointer to push the lead to 20 before the Gray Wolves slowly climbed back.  A 9-0 run capped by a jumper by Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) pulled the Gray Wolves within nine, 52-43, with 13:39 to play.  The run continued as Snow's three-point play with 9:04 remaining tied the game at 54, closing a 20-2 spurt over seven minutes. 
 
Saint Francis pulled back in front momentarily before two free throws by McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) put the Gray Wolves on top for the first time since early in the first half, 58-57, at the 6:37 mark.  The lead went back and forth with Little Anderson (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) giving Lourdes its final advantage of the night, 66-65, with three minutes to play.
 
After the Cougars scored on back-to-back possessions, Kenny Coleman (Toledo, Ohio/Saint Francis de Sales H.S.) tied the game at 69 with a triple with 1:19 to play, but Antwaan Cushingberry answered with a three of his own with 54.7 seconds remaining to put Saint Francis on top for good.
 
After a defensive stop, Coleman made one of two free throws with 8.2 ticks remaining.  The Cougars were then fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Lourdes final attempt as time expired missed the mark.
 
"I thought we dominated the second half, and had we played just a little better in the first half we would have won," head coach Dennis Hopson said following the game.  "We came out to play basketball in the second half the way we want to play.  We did a much better job of executing our offense and running what we wanted to.  We were able to get the ball inside as well."
 
Saint Francis opened the game scoring 10 of the first 13 points before a dunk by White put the Gray Wolves in front 13-12.  The Cougars responded with a 10-0 run to build a nine-point lead midway through the stanza and closed the half on a 9-0 run over the final 3:09 to take a 17-point lead into halftime.
 
"The first half we didn't defend well," Hopson added.  "Free throws killed us.  They were the key to the game."
 
The Gray Wolves finished just 11-of-23 (47.8%) from the free throw line for the game.  Lourdes shot 49.1% from the field, including 63.0% over the final 20 minutes and converted 12 Saint Francis turnovers into 22 points.
 
Anderson led the Gray Wolves with 18 points while Snow added 17 points and nine rebounds.  Nick Welch (Temperance, Mich./Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S.) finished with 11 points and eight boards.
 
Connor Lautzenheiser led Saint Francis (3-0) with 16 points while Hunter Hollowell came off the bench and added 15 more.  The Cougars shot 43.9% from the floor, but made 12-of-28 (42.9%) from three-point range.
 
Lourdes takes to the road for the first time this season on Friday evening, facing another NAIA top-25 opponent.  The Gray Wolves will battle eighth-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene, tipping off at 7 p.m. inside of Ariel Arena in Mount Vernon, Ohio.