Men's Basketball Smothers Aquinas to Win WHAC Opener

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team were able to play their first home game of the season, and they would reward the home crowd with a 68-52 victory over the Aquinas College Saints Wednesday evening at Gannon Gymnasium.

Aquinas would start the game on an 8-0 run, forcing a time-out from the Cougars.  The time-out would calm the team down, and Tim Kewley and Nick Ellis would score back to back baskets to make it an 8-5 ballgame.  A second Nick Ellis three pointer would make it a two point game.  After Cleary got a defensive stop, Chaz Cobbs Jr. would get to the rim, scored a layup, and gave the Cougars a 16-14 lead.  The lead would grow one possession later, when Brian Everhart and Jacob Mueller each hit from behind the arc, and the Cougars led 22-14.  After a made free throw by CU made it a nine point game, Tim Kewley scored his sixth point of the first half to give Cleary a 27-16 lead.  With just under five minutes to play, Bennie Crenshaw Jr. hit a layup, and the lead grew to thirteen points with the score 29-16.  Aquinas would finish the half on an 8-4 run, and the two teams would head into the half with the score 33-24.

Aquinas would quickly cut into the Cleary lead to start the second half, making it a six point game just 90 seconds into the half.  Two minutes later, Cleary's lead had shrunk to 35-30.  Chaz Cobbs Jr. would make a layup to start the righting of the ship, and Amare Slaughter made a layup of his own, to give the Cougars a nine point lead once again.  Leading by eleven, Brian Everhart hit a three in transition to extend Cleary's lead to fourteen with 11:28 to play in the game.  Another Brian Everhart three pointer extended the lead to seventeen with just under 10 minutes to play, forcing a timeout from the Saints.  With 5:00 to play, Nick Ellis dunked to give the Cougars a 59-40 lead.  The Saints would cut into that lead, but a Levi McKenzie three pointer gave Cleary a 62-43 lead once again.  The lead grew to twenty points with under 2:00 left in the game after Jacob Mueller connected on a pair of free throws.  The Saints would score some late points to shrink the Cougar lead, but it wouldn't matter as Cleary went on to win 68-52.

Cleary was led by a very balanced attack, with Nick Ellis as the leading scorer with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 1 blocked shot.  Jacob Mueller would add 9 points and 7 rebounds, while Brian Everhart also had 9 points.  11 different Cougars scored in the game, and 7 scored at least 6 points.

The 16-point margin of victory was the largest in program history, and the 52-points that Cleary's defense held Aquinas to was the lowest points allowed in program history.

Cleary improves to 1-4 overall, 1-0 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will look to go 2-0 on Saturday, when they host the Madonna University Crusaders for a WHAC game at 3:00 PM inside Gannon Gymnasium.