Men's Basketball Falls at Aquinas

(Grand Rapids, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team started slow, but the Aquinas College Saints did enough to hand the Cougars a WHAC loss Wednesday evening in Grand Rapids.

Aquinas would start the game on an 11-1 run before Bennie Crenshaw Jr. scored the Cougars' first field goal of the game.  The Saints' lead would grow to fourteen points, but a pair of layups by Crenshaw and Tim Kewley cut the deficit back to ten points.  Cleary would struggle to find the net, and the cold streak helped the Saints build a 17 point first half lead.  Cleary would get things going in the final stages of the first half, but would still trail Aquinas 36-22 at the break.

Cleary would come out in the second half firing on all cylinders, as Brockton Kohler and Jaylen Cole-Williams would each convert three point plays. Bennie Crenshaw Jr. added a pair of made free throws, and Chris Williams made a layup after an offensive rebound to cut the deficit to six points.  That would be the closest Cleary would get, as the Saints answered that run with a run of their own, retaking the double-digit lead, and going on to win the game by an 80-60 score.

Brockton Kohler led Cleary with 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Bennie Crenshaw Jr. added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Tim Kewley was a perfect 3-3 from the floor to score 9 points off the bench for the Cougars.

Cleary falls to 1-21 overall, 1-16 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will be back at home on Saturday, February 10, when they host the Concordia Cardinals at 7:30 PM.