SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men’s basketball team trailed by eight at halftime but used 55 second half points to rally back and knock off Lourdes University 87-68 on Tuesday night inside the SAU Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Zach Medendorp led the way with 20 points – matching his career-high – while also finishing with six rebounds and a career-best seven blocks. Senior Peter Barry registered a career-high 16 points, and has now reached double figures in three straight contests, and freshman Luke Barber poured in 11 points off the bench.
Spring Arbor improved to 6-6 overall with the win while Lourdes dropped to 6-6 with the loss.
The Cougars had trouble slowing down the visitors in the first half as the Gray Wolves shot 64 percent (16-for-25) from the field, including hitting 4-of-5 shots from three-point range. Lourdes scored the first five points of the game and would not surrender the lead the rest of the half.
After trailing by as many as 11, SAU fought back to trim the deficit to two, 29-27, with 3:47 remaining in the period. But, the Gray Wolves responded with five quick points to halt the run and would eventually take a 40-32 advantage into halftime.
However, Spring Arbor came out of the break on fire hitting its first four shots to tie the score at 42-42. The Cougars would grab their first lead of the night on the next possession when Barry wowed the crowd with a one-handed put-back dunk.
Spring Arbor continued to ride the momentum, outscoring Lourdes 20-3 over the next six minutes, and would cruise to the victory.
The Cougars shot 57 percent (33-for-58) on the night, hitting 9-of-18 shots from behind the arc. The SAU defense shut down the Gray Wolves over the final 20 minutes, limiting them to just 25 percent (9-for-35) from the floor.
Senior Greg Hamilton, junior Caleb Hogans and sophomore Drew Zuidema all finished with eight points. Hogans dished out a season-high seven assists while Hamilton recorded five.
Up next, Spring Arbor will head south to take on Florida National University (5-3) in Hialeah, Florida on Monday, Dec. 21. The Cougars will visit Ave Maria University (1-8) the following day before returning to Michigan to close out the calendar year at Madonna University (4-9) on Dec. 30.
The game will air on JTV this Saturday and Sunday at 1pm and 7pm.