LIMA, Ohio – The Lourdes men's basketball team (19-8, 13-8 in WHAC) won 98 to 97 against Northwestern Ohio (9-18, 7-14 in WHAC) on Wednesday evening; clinching the No. 4 seed in the WHAC Tournament and home court advantage for the first round.

For whatever reason, when Lourdes matches up against UNOH, the game becomes instantly impacted by insanely high scoring and results in a thrilling finish. Earlier in the season, the Gray Wolves beat the Racers 111 to 107 in a double overtime game at home. On Wednesday, the game was almost a high scoring in regulation and with an even slimmer margin, a single point.

The Terracotta & Gray clinched home court advantage with their 13^th conference victory of the season after both Lawrence Tech and Cornerstone lost their respective contests. Cleary also won their game putting the three Michigan schools in a three-way tie for fifth place. The Blue Devils, Golden Eagles and Cougars are all potential first-round matchups for Lourdes in the WHAC Tournament depending on how their final games turn out on Saturday.

Lourdes beat Cornerstone and Lawrence Tech the first time they played them at home and lost to both teams the second time they played them on the road. Lourdes got swept against Cleary this season, bringing their record against potential first round opponents to 2-4.

Madonna and Indiana Tech could still each win the WHAC regular season title. Rochester Christian clinched the No. 3 seed and Aquinas clinched the No. 8 seed.    

1^st Half
The Racers and Gray Wolves started off the game firing on all cylinders, making basically any shot that they hurled towards the hoop. UNOH's biggest lead of the half was four points when it was 25 to 21 at the 10-minute mark. Lourdes quickly erased the deficit after going on a 6-0 run with a couple of baskets made by sophomore guard Adonus Abrams and freshman center Charlie Wood.

Abrams scored 17 points in the first half in his eighth consecutive start. He had 23 points in the game, two shy of his career-high. He also grabbed seven rebounds while swiping three steals on the defensive end.

Wood was a force off the bench in the game, dropping 10 points for the first time since his 20-point career high against Cleary two months ago.  

The Gray Wolves were down 44 to 45 at the end of the half in a complete offensive battle that would only become more fast-paced in the second half.

2^nd Half
UNOH shot an unbelievable 63% from the field and 72.7% from beyond the arc in the second half, scoring 52 points. They also held the Lourdes offense to under 50% from the field and just 16.7% from the three-point line. With these advantages, it may be hard to believe that Lourdes actually put up 54 points to UNOH's 52 in the half to get the one-point win.

The answer to this statistical riddle is Stephen Coleman Jr. The Lourdes senior guard/forward went on scoring tear in the second half, scoring 22 points and grabbing six rebounds on 90% shooting. Coleman Jr. almost passed his career-high in points for a game in just the second half.

Coleman Jr. ended the game with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds for a season-best double-double performance. Every time the Racers seemed to get a rhythm going offensively, he would counteract them by drawing a foul, swishing a mid-range jumper, or driving hard to the hoop for a scoop and score.

Freshman guard J'Siah Jefferson also had a huge part to play in the second half, grabbing nine of his ten rebounds in the game and not allowing many Racers' second chance points.

Sophomore guard Derek Fairley also contributed with 13 of his 19 points in the game coming in the final 20 minutes. Fairley played a real complete game with nine rebounds and six assists as well.

All of these offensive contributors helped Lourdes keep pace with UNOH's explosive offense throughout the second half, but it was the one starter who hadn't heard his name called much in the game that came up big: freshman guard/forward Karter Koester. UNOH was up 95 to 93 with just 40 seconds left to play before Adonus Abrams missed a game-tying layup. Abrams got his own offensive rebound though and kicked the ball out to Koester for a clutch three-pointer to take the 96 to 95 lead for Lourdes. Koester had just one basket made the entire game before nailing the three-pointer to take the first lead for Lourdes since the 10-minute mark in the half.

After all the excitement died down, UNOH took the lead right back with 30 seconds to play after an Alex Benson mid-range jump shot. Down 97 to 96, Abrams missed a three-pointer but Fairley got the offensive rebound and tried to put it back up for the win. He was fouled on the shot with 10 seconds left by UNOH's Chris Johnson.

The Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List selection calmly made both free throws to give the Gray Wolves the 98 to 97 advantage with eight seconds left. UNOH was unable to score in their final possession as Lourdes punched their ticket to first round home court advantage, clinching the No. 4 seed in the WHAC Tournament.

Stats
UNOH shot 56.7% from the field, 51.9% from three-point range and 78.9% from the free throw line. Lourdes shot 46.9% from the field, 12.5% from three-point range and 82.6% from the charity stripe. Lourdes outrebounded UNOH by four and had a plus-nine offensive rebound advantage resulting in 17 more second chance points for the Gray Wolves. Lourdes also had six more steals than UNOH and a plus-11 forced turnover advantage.  

Coach DuPree's Postgame Comments
"That was a slug fest," Coach DuPree said postgame. "It's always a high level game when we play UNOH. I'm very proud of our guys for fighting until the final buzzer. Steve Coleman was determined tonight. He played like a senior whose season is on the line. Adonus and Derek both made really big plays throughout the game and Karter Koester hit the biggest three of the night. J'siah Jefferson is the smallest guy on the court and still had 10 rebounds. We wanted it tonight. Everyone did their part, even our bench, who was energetic the whole game and helped push us through."

Next Up
The final men's basketball regular season game in the Ebeid Rec Center will take place at 3pm on Saturday against Siena Heights. The seniors will be honored before the game takes place.