Lourdes pulled into a tie for first place in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings on Wednesday evening after the Gray Wolves defeated Michigan-Dearborn 68-54 inside the UMD Fieldhouse in Dearborn, Mich.
 
The win is the fifth straight for the Gray Wolves, who moved into a tie with Cornerstone for the top spot in the conference.
 
"We are starting to click on the defensive end and that is making teams uncomfortable," head coach Dennis Hopson said after the game.  "We still have to continue to grow and keep competing though."
 
McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) came off the bench to lead all scorers with 18 points, making 8-of-10 shots from the floor.  Nick Welch (Temperance, Mich./Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S.) added 13 points while the duo grabbed eight and nine rebounds respectively as well.
 
The lead went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of the contest, with neither side holding an advantage of more than two points until White's tip-in at the 9:56 mark put Lourdes in front 15-12.  The Gray Wolves' lead grew to six with six minutes to play in the first half following an 8-1 Lourdes run.  The advantage would stay six, 31-25, as the two teams headed into the locker room.
 
Lourdes pushed the lead to 10 out of halftime, only to see the Wolverines battle back to within four, 44-40, at the 10-minute mark.  The Gray Wolves responded with a 16-0 run, including triples from Little Anderson (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) and Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.), as the lead swelled to 20 at the five-minute mark.
 
Michigan-Dearborn was unable to cut the lead under 14 the rest of the way as Lourdes improved to 5-1 away from home this season.
 
Julian Egbo (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers H.S.) also tallied double figures for Lourdes, scoring 11 points as the Gray Wolves shot 46.8% from the field as a team while committing just seven turnovers.  Lourdes also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Wolverines 38-24, and the Gray Wolves turned 11 offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.
 
Cody Kegley and Elwood Thomlinson each paced Michigan-Dearborn (9-3, 3-1 WHAC) with 15 points each. The Wolverines shot 40% from the floor.
 
Lourdes (8-3, 4-1) returns home on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves entertain Concordia (Mich.).  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.