ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – The Lourdes men's basketball team (17-6, 11-6 in WHAC) lost to Rochester Christian (16-7, 11-6 in WHAC) 76 to 82 on the road Wednesday night, marking the first time this year the team has lost two games in a row.
Lourdes has been decimated by injuries over the past few weeks and now sits tied with Rochester Christian for third place in the conference. The Gray Wolves sit three games back from first place Madonna after the Crusaders crushed Northwestern Ohio earlier in the night.
The good news is that Indiana Tech lost again, this time in double overtime on the road to Cleary, keeping Lourdes just a game out from second place.
1st Half
After falling behind 5 to 9, the Gray Wolves went on a 9-0 run to take a 14 to 9 lead six minutes into the game. Sophomore guard
Derek Fairley had a couple of mid-range jumpers and a three-pointer during the run. He ended the game with 23 points.
Freshman guard/forward
Karter Koester also contributed a three-pointer during the opening run but those were his only points of the night. The freshman duo of Koester and Wood contributed 10 points combined in the game.
A 6-0 Lourdes run later in the half pushed the lead to nine with 10 minutes to go, the largest lead of the night for the Gray Wolves. However, a massive 18 to 5 Rochester Christian run from the nine-minute to four-minute mark in the first half quickly erased the Lourdes advantage and gave the Warriors a four-point lead of their own.
RCU ended the half up one in a game full of inconsistent runs that would continue that trend into the second half.
2nd Half
RCU went on a 12 to 2 run in the middle of the second half to break the game open, going up 13 points on Lourdes. During the run, the Gray Wolves missed a pair of triples and three layups. The Warriors also got a couple of steals to keep the pressure on Lourdes.
The RCU lead got as high as 16 points with seven minutes left and all momentum seemed to be with the home team. However, the Warriors forgot to account for the scrappy sophomore guard out of Columbus, Ohio,
Adonus Abrams. The Gray Wolves defensive catalyst showcased his offensive skills in the second half, scoring 12 points in a row for Lourdes and cutting the lead back down to eight with a minute left. Abrams led all scorers with a career-high 25 points in the game.
After getting a couple stops, senior guard/forward
Stephen Coleman Jr. knocked down a free throw and a layup to trim the lead to three points with 30 seconds left.
Needing to foul to stay alive, the Gray Wolves sent RCU's Linden Holder to the free throw line. He knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to five. A subsequent missed three-pointer by
Derek Fairley iced the game and sent the Warriors home with a six-point win.
The Gray Wolves fought extremely hard down the stretch but didn't quite have the consistent defense to stop the Warriors high-powered offense, resulting in the slim loss.
Stats
The Warriors had a 1% advantage in the field goal percentage and a 2% advantage from the charity stripe. The biggest statistical difference came from beyond the arc where RCU shot 40% compared to Lourdes' 27%. RCU outrebounded Lourdes 47 to 30 but Lourdes won the turnover battle 12 to 20.
Coach DuPree's Postgame Comments
"We definitely put ourselves in a hole in the second half," Coach DuPree said postgame. "The last five minutes, our guys showed tremendous fight to cut it to three. It's tough to battle back against a good team like Rochester. We will learn from this and grow."
Next Game
Lourdes will look to get back on track as they take on eighth-place Aquinas on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 3 pm in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
