Lourdes saw its 2018-2019 season come to a close on Thursday evening, as the Gray Wolves saw Indiana Tech rally from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat the Gray Wolves 82-73 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals held inside of the Schaefer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
"I thought we raised our intensity to the correct level needed for a tournament game," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "We fought hard but ultimately fell a few points short.  They are a veteran team that made some big plays down the stretch when they needed them."
 
Neither team led by more than a basket for the first 10 minutes when Bryce McComb (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton H.S.) and Tyler Kegley (Mount Gilead, Ohio/Northmor H.S.) scored back-to-back baskets underneath to cap a 6-0 Lourdes run, putting the Gray Wolves in front 23-16 with just under nine minutes to play in the opening stanza.
 
Indiana Tech, the tournament's third seed, responded with the next six points as part of a 9-2 run to pull even at 25.  Lourdes did not allow the Warriors to forge ahead though, responding with six consecutive points of its own.
 
With the Gray Wolves in front by two just before halftime, Indiana Tech missed a dunk and Kadeim Jones (Dayton, Ohio/Marshall H.S.) answered at the other end with a triple in the corner just before the buzzer to give Lourdes a 38-33 lead at the break.
 
Lourdes shot nearly 60% from the floor in the opening half while limiting Indiana Tech to just a 36% clip, but the Warriors turned 11 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points.
 
The sixth-seeded Gray Wolves scored the first basket of the second half before Indiana Tech went on an 11-2 run to pull in front for the first time since six minutes into the game.  Tied at 48, the Warriors scored the next six points before a Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) triple stopped the run with 11:14 to play.
 
Jones followed with a three of his own and added a steal and score, putting the Gray Wolves back in front by two, 56-54, with 10 minutes to play.
 
Indiana Tech responded with an 11-3 run to retake the lead 67-61 at the six minute mark and extended the lead to eight before Desmond Frazier (Ocala, Fla./Dunnellon H.S.) made a three with just under five minutes to play.
 
Jones banked in a triple on the following possession from near the right corner, making it a 71-69 game, only to have the Warriors answer on the other end of the floor.
 
Trailing 75-71, Lourdes had back-to-back possessions to cut into the deficit with under two minutes to play, coming up short, before Dylan Phair made his fourth three-pointer of the game with 49.7 seconds remaining to extend the Warrior lead to seven, and the hosts secured the victory down the stretch.
 
Jones led Lourdes (18-13) with 17 points while Snow added 16 points and five assists.  McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards while Brett Lauf (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) added 13 more.  Frazier, the lone senior on the Lourdes roster, finished his career with nine points.
 
"To improve as a program moving forward, we need to learn that we need to bring this level of effort and intensity every night," Gibson concluded.
 
Phair led Indiana Tech (20-11) with 24 points while Josh Kline came off the bench to add 16 more.  The Warriors shot 65.4% from the field over the final 20 minutes to earn the win.