Men's Basketball's Game Tying Shot Rims Out at the Buzzer vs. Lourdes

Men's Basketball's Game Tying Shot Rims Out at the Buzzer vs. Lourdes
January 27, 2025

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team saw their three game winning streak come to an end at home Monday evening, as they fell to the Lourdes Gray Wolves 70-67 in a game being made up from January 8.

Lourdes would jump out to an 11-1 lead before the Cougars got their footing in the game.  A Jacob Mueller layup plus the foul would cut the deficit to four points, and after a Gray Wolf basket, AJ Hess knocked down a three.  Chris Williams would go coast to coast to make it a one point game, and another Jacob Mueller layup would give the Cougars a 15-14 lead.  Lourdes then went on a run, and by the 6:12 mark of the first half, had built a ten point lead.  Jaylen Cole-Williams knocked down a three, and Bennie Crenshaw Jr. hit a pair of free throws to cut into the Lourdes advantage.  The Gray Wolves responded again, and had their lead grow back to double-digits at the half, with Cleary trailing 41-31.

Cleary got a boost to start the second half, as Jaylen Cole-Williams hit a three to start things off.  Lourdes used timely three point shooting throughout the game to keep the Cougars at bay, and with 5:13 to go, the score was 68-57 in favor of the visitors.  After the two teams traded points, and with the score 69-59, Jacob Mueller made 1/2 free throws, followed by Chris Williams making 1/2 free throws to make it an eight point game.  A defensive stop and then a foul after an offensive rebound put Tyree Jones at the line, and he made both free throws to make the score 69-63.  Another defensive stop led to a Jacob Mueller layup, and with under a minute to go, Chris Williams hit a difficult contested jumper to make it a two point game.  Cleary fouled, and the Gray Wolves hit 1/2 of their free throws, making the score 70-67.  After a Cougar timeout, Cleary's three point attempt to tie was off the mark, but Lourdes would travel after the defensive rebound, giving the back to the Cougars.  Cleary used their final timeout, but Lourdes defended it well, forcing Bennie Crenshaw Jr. to attempt the desperation three to tie.  His shot would hit the rim, but not fall, handing the Cougars only their second loss in the last six games.

Jacob Mueller led CU with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.  Chris Williams added 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Tyree Jones had his second consecutive double-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and a team high 4 assists.  Jaylen Cole-Williams rounded out the double-digit scorers ith 10 points and 3 steals.

The loss drops Cleary's record to 6-13, 5-8 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will return to action on Saturday, February 1, when they travel to Fort Wayne to take on the Indiana Tech Warriors for a WHAC bout.  The game is set to begin at 3:00 PM.