GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In a tough, physical WHAC quarterfinal game, the No. 2 seeded Cornerstone Golden Eagles pulled away in the final ten minutes to post a 97-72 win over rival Aquinas on Thursday night. The victory, which is the twelfth straight for CU, lifts them to 22-7 on the year as they will play host to No. 3 seed Lourdes on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Game Highlights – Cornerstone – 97 Aquinas - 72
- First Half
- In the team's second matchup in only eight days, the cross-town rivals traded punches on the offensive side and after five minutes of play, a Luke Rowlinson layup gave CU the lead at 12-11
- The Golden Eagles scored 12 of the next 14 points to up the margin to 11 after a fast break layup from Mason Brooks
- The physical play from the Saints heated up and Cornerstone made them pay by going 13/15 from the foul line in the opening 20 minutes
- Aquinas managed to hang around thanks to the deep shot as the Saints connected on five triples in the opening half
- Two late foul shots from Rowlinson put the home team up by 10 at the break (49-39)
- Second Half
- Aquinas then started the second half by making three more 3-pointers in the first five minutes to cut the margin down to just six (58-52) with 14:46 to play
- Back to back triples from Brooks and Kayden Bird followed by a layup from Cory Ainsworth ignited the home crowd and CU started to pull away, leading 68-54
- The lead never went lower then nine for the remainder of the game as CU poured it on over the last ten minutes
- Eli Steffen banks in a three as the Saints body language shows that this game is close to being over
- CU would connect on six out of ten shots from behind the arc in the closing 20 minutes and they made all 10 of their free throw attempts. Andy More put the dagger on the game with a three from the top of the key
By the Numbers
20/6 - Ainsworth had uncharacteristic one rebound but posted a game high 20 points and six assists
5 - Five different Golden Eagles finished in double-figure scoring while
Toby Woolcock had nine to go along with three assists
40-30 - CU outscored the Saints by 10 in the paint
3 - CU posted a season sweep of the Saints winning by an average of 24 points
What's Next?
Cornerstone will host No. 3 seed and #RV Lourdes on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The WHAC semifinal round will follow a Men's Volleyball match, also against Lourdes, that is scheduled for a 12pm start time.
Men's Basketball Contact:
Jonny Strube
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