DEARBORN, Mich. – Lourdes men's basketball (16-4) (10-4 in WHAC) escaped Michigan Dearborn (5-15) (4-10 in WHAC) with a close 72 to 63 win on Saturday afternoon.

The Gray Wolves keep pace with 2^nd place Madonna and 1^st place Indiana Tech after all three teams won over the weekend.

1^st Half
Michigan Dearborn forward Luc Laketa (who formerly played at Iowa) had 10 points and two three-pointers for the Wolverines in the first half. The UMD three-point shooting as a whole was a problem for Lourdes in the first half after the Wolverines sunk four compared to the Gray Wolves zero.

Starting in his first game in two weeks, sophomore guard Adonus Abrams led Lourdes with seven points in the first half. Abrams would finish the game with 12 points and two steals, playing excellent defense on the Wolverine wings all game.

The first half was largely back-and-forth with nether team going on any big runs. Lourdes was up 32 to 30 before UMD's Collin Miller hit a fastbreak three-pointer at the end of the half to give the Wolverines a one-point halftime lead.

2^nd Half
Lourdes struggled with free throw shooting in the second half, shooting 8-for-15, which allowed Michigan Dearborn to hang around in the game through the first 11 minutes of the second half. The game was still tied at 56 with seven minutes to play before sophomore guard Derek Fairley took over for Lourdes.

Fairley made a three-pointer, a layup and a fastbreak dunk within a five-minute span to help Lourdes break away with a nine point lead with three minutes left. Fairley had 15 second-half points and ended the game with a team-high 21 points. His high-scoring Michigan-Dearborn rival Jackson Reynolds ended the game with 22.

Senior guard/forward Stephen Coleman also had a few layups and a dunk during the late game pull away. Coleman Jr. nearly had a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds in the game.

Lourdes was able to hold onto the nine point lead built by Coleman Jr. and Fairley and leave Dearborn with their 10^th conference win of the season, winning 72 to 63.

Stats
Lourdes outshot Michigan Dearborn by 16% from the field but Michigan Dearborn outshot Lourdes by 8% from the three-point line. Statistically, the biggest reason the game was so close for so long was that the Wolverines shot 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, while Lourdes' number was at 57.1%. Despite this, Lourdes was able to pull away with the victory with three double-digit scorers on offense and electric defense all game long.

Next Game
Lourdes looks to stay undefeated at home next Wednesday as they take on Defiance at 5:30 pm for National Women in Sports Night.