ADRIAN, Mich. – Lourdes men's basketball (13-3) (7-3 in WHAC) beat Siena Heights (4-11) (1-9 in WHAC) 67 to 63 on Saturday afternoon in comeback fashion.

The last place Saints were up by 13 points at halftime before freshman guard/forward Karter Koester caught fire in the second half, scoring 20 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Gray Wolves to a four point victory.

Lourdes was down 36 to 43 with 11 minutes left before Koester sank a layup and four three-pointers in a row to give the Gray Wolves a 53 to 52 lead with five minutes left, their first lead since the middle of the first half.

Koester also had another deep ball at the three-minute mark as well as some game sealing free throws under a minute to preserve the lead and help Lourdes escape Adrian with their seventh WHAC victory of the season.

Koester ended the contest as the game's leading scorer with a career-high 24 points, making it just the second game all season Derek Fairley hasn't led the team in scoring. Fairley was one of four Gray Wolves that scored double digits however, scoring 10 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Another contributing factor in the win was Koester's fellow freshman class guard, J'Siah Jefferson. Jefferson continued his trend of setting personal records in the month of January with his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and leading the team with 10 rebounds.

Jefferson now has three games with 10 rebounds or more, including two in a row this week. The 6'2" guard is using his physicality and toughness to average 5.3 rebounds per game. The mark now leads the team despite the fact that he's only started in the six games this year.

Another solid performance was by senior guard/forward Stephen Coleman Jr., who outscored Siena Heights' entire bench by himself, scoring 17 points on 54.5% shooting off the bench for Lourdes. He is averaging 11.8 points and five rebounds per game since coming back from injury in a sixth man role, providing a scoring and defensive spark for the Gray Wolves bench.

On the Siena Heights side, freshman guard Nick Sobush led the team with 20 points. Senior guard Jasiah Rainey also played well off the bench for the Saints, grabbing 14 rebounds and scoring eight points.

Coach DuPree's Postgame Comments
"Really, it was just a tale of two halves," Coach DuPree said. "In the first half, we showed very little effort, discipline and focus. We just didn't show up to play. In the second half, the switch flipped and we were able to turn it around and pull out the win. On the offensive end, Karter was key, and on the defensive end, J'Siah was key with guarding their primary ball handler. Steve Coleman had a really good game on both ends of the court, scoring the basketball and defending as well. He does what he needs to do whether he starts or whether he's coming off the bench. That's just him being a veteran guy."

Next Game
Lourdes will face Northwestern Ohio on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. back home in the Ebeid Rec Center.