Jan. 3, 2008

Stats

CINCINNATI, Ohio - The men's basketball squad let victory slip through their hands on Thursday night in their final tuneup before the conference slate begins with a 74-72 loss to the College of Mount St. Joseph. The Bulldogs had a 15-point lead with 9:11 remaining at 62-47 on a triple by Lamar Cardenas which was followed by a timeout. Mount St. Joseph scored the next seven points and cut the lead to 62-54 with 6:40 left. Cardenas hit a pair of free throws to give Adrian another double-digit lead but that would be the beginning of the end for the Bulldogs. The Lions would go on a 15-4 run to take a 69-68 lead with 2:35 to play setting up a good finish. Ryan Gallus' tip-in gave Adrian a 70-69 lead with 2:07 on the clock. After a pair of free throws by Mount St. Joseph, Desmond Young nailed a pair of freebies to give Adrian a 72-71 lead with 1:39 remaining. The Lions rebounded their own miss and Josh Carter's layup with 1:02 left gave MSJ a 73-72 lead. Adrian held the ball and worked the shot clock but Young missed a driving layup with 37 seconds sending Michael Eirons to the line for two shots. Eirons missed the first and Adrian called a timeout. Eirons made the second to give the Lions a 74-72 lead with 33 seconds. Gallus lost the ball with four seconds left and Eirons' steal sealed the victory for the host Lions.

Young led Adrian with 28 points, which tied his season-high. He was 10-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-5 from the arc and 5-of-5 from the line. Gallus finished with 15 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Cardenas scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 30 minutes in his first start of the year. Adrian shot 48.2 percent for the game including 62.5 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs were also hot from the arc going 11-of-22.