Lourdes began the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 75-65 victory over the University of Northwestern Ohio inside of the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
The Gray Wolves overcame a hot shooting night by the Racers, forcing 17 UNOH turnovers, while offensively committing just four miscues of their own and turning 14 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points.
 
"We played hard today and moved the ball well," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "I can't complain with 14 assists and just four turnovers.  Our bigs also did a nice job and we scored well in the paint.  If we play as hard as we did today, we can make things happen going forward."
 
Lourdes built an early 18-10 lead less than nine minutes into the game following a dunk by Mike Bruce (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti H.S.), only to see the Racers battle back to take a 24-23 lead less than five minutes later.  The remainder of the half was a one possession game either way, with Lourdes taking a 41-39 edge into the locker room following a layup by Khaire Williams (Detroit, Mich./Romulus H.S.) in the final seconds of the stanza.
 
Northwestern Ohio shot 60% from the floor over the opening 20 minutes, but Lourdes had 15 more shot attempts and made four more field goals than the Racers.
 
Two three-pointers by Williams to open the second half pushed the Lourdes lead back to eight, and the Gray Wolves would not relinquish their advantage the entire stanza.  UNOH cut the Lourdes advantage to one twice, but a 7-0 spurt by the Gray Wolve pushed the lead to 64-55 with eight minutes left in the game.
 
Northwestern Ohio was able to close within six, 69-63 with under three minutes to play and had the basketball but could not cut into the deficit the rest of the way.
 
Nick Welch (Temperance, Mich./Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S.) led Lourdes with 18 points and eight rebounds while Clif Snow (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown H.S.) added 14 more.  Williams tallied 13 points off the bench for the Gray Wolves.
 
Nathan Lessing led Northwestern Ohio with 24 points while Isaac Golson Jr. added 16 more.
 
Lourdes (2-2, 1-0 WHAC) and Northwestern Ohio (0-3, 0-2) will conclude their season series next Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves return the trip to Lima, Ohio.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside of Racer Gymnasium.