Tied at 29 at halftime, Lourdes used a 19-3 second half run to break the game open and defeat Akron Wayne 76-56 on Saturday afternoon inside the Boyer Health & PE Center in Orrville, Ohio.
 
"This is a game we should be trying to build upon moving forward," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "We didn't do that.  It did give us an opportunity to see what's what though.  We didn't shoot well from three but we did rebound well."
 
The first half saw seven ties and eight lead changes with neither school leading by more than four in the opening 20 minutes.  The Gray Wolves held a 38-35 lead with 16 minutes to play before its big run which allowed Lourdes to take advantage and pull away.
 
Lourdes led by as many as 25 in the second half after leading by 20 for the final six minutes of the game.
 
Little Anderson (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) led Lourdes with 23 points while Julian Egbo (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers H.S.) had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  Bryce McComb (Swanton, Ohio/Swanton H.S.) added 11 points.  Samer Jabbo (Temperance, Mich./Bedford H.S.) had 10 rebounds.
 
Lourdes shot 42.9% from the floor, but just 29.2% (7-of-24) from three-point range and committed 18 turnovers.  The Gray Wolves finished with a 52-44 rebounding edge though.
 
DeJuan Lawrence tallied a double-double, 16 points and 16 boards, to pace Akron Wayne (8-13).  The Warriors shot just 28.4% from the field.
 
Lourdes (17-5) closes out non-conference play on Monday evening, traveling to Shawnee State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside of Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth, Ohio.