Aquinas rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Lourdes 90-87 on Wednesday evening in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opener for both schools inside of the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"We gave up 60 points in the second half and allowed them to shoot 26 free throws," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "We have to get better guarding the ball and making intangible plays.  Not coming away with loose balls hurt us as well."
 
Aquinas started quickly, making back-to-back three-pointers as part of a 10-2 start over the game's first four minutes.  The Saints maintained their advantage, holding a 17-10 lead before The Gray Wolves scored 11 straight points to take their first lead of the game, 21-17.
 
With the game tied at 26, N'Keeley Elmore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland H.S.) hit a jumper with 3:53 to play in the half and Little Anderson (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) followed with a steal and score.  Elmore followed with another basket, pushing the lead to six.  Lourdes would maintain that edge into halftime, leading 36-30 at the break.
 
The Saints came out of the locker room, scoring nine of the first 11 points to retake the lead, 39-38, less than three minutes into the stanza.  The lead then went back-and-forth with the Gray Wolves going on top 53-51 on an Anderson lay-in at the 13:25 mark.
 
Aquinas scored the next 10 points over a two-and-a-half-minute span to begin a 16-2 run as the hosts built a 67-55 advantage with 10 minutes to play.  The Saints were able to maintain a 10-to-14-point edge until Anderson hit a triple with 1:52 remaining to pull Lourdes within nine, 83-74.
 
A fast break lay-in by Brett Lauf (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) with 45 seconds left made it a seven-point game.  After two missed free throws by Aquinas, Nick Welch (Temperance, Mich./Saint Mary Catholic Central H.S.) converted a three-point play with 26 ticks on the clock, making it an 85-81 contest.  The Saints made free throws down the stretch though to secure the victory, despite a last second triple by Elmore to make it a three-point final.
 
Anderson and Welch paced the Gray Wolves with 18 points each.  Five Lourdes players finished in double figures as Joey Holifield (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) added 17 points while Elmore and McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) tallied 10 points each.  Welch pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
 
The Gray Wolves shot 50% from the floor but were just 5-of-22 (22.7%) from three-point range.  Aquinas connected at 54% for the night, including 7-of-17 (41.2%) from long range.
 
Jesse Hillis led Aquinas (4-1, 1-0 WHAC) with 24 points while Sammie Ryans added 22 points.  Jaylen Rutherford chipped in 21 more for the Saints.
 
Lourdes (2-1, 0-1) steps back out of conference play on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves travel to Wilberforce, Ohio to battle Wilberforce.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside Gaston Lewis Gymnasium.