Dec. 3, 2008

Final Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The men's basketball team snapped out of a funk in the second half with their backs against the wall and nearly clawed out a win on the road in a 78-71 defeat in the crosstown showdown with Siena Heights. The crowd which had helped out the Saints all game long went silent in the final minutes of the game as Adrian used a huge spurt on the offensive end.

Adrian trailed 57-38 with 10:08 left in the game after a three-point play by Jake Schirmer. The light seemed to go on for the Bulldogs at that point and picked up their intensity. Adrian cut the lead to 57-45 with a 7-0 run as Desmond Young began to find the scoring touch he went without for the first 30 minutes. Young was 0-for-5 in the first half and scored just two points. He rallied in the second half with 20 points to finish with 22 points just five shy of his season average.

The Bulldogs did not get the game under double digits until there was 2:50 left on a jumper by Michael Staley. Dwight VanHoesen nailed a three-pointer at 2:31 to cut the lead to 66-60. Young came back after a three-point play by Brian Champine with one of his own to keep the deficit to six with 2:10 to play.

Young made a running layup with 1:21 left to make the score 71-67 and Mark Snipes went to the line for SHU and split a pair. Staley raced down the court and made a triple with 56 seconds to go which made the game a one-possession affair. Jake DeRoeck made a big lay-in with 23 seconds on the clock to stretch their lead to 74-70. Staley split at the line and DeRoeck made a pair at the charity stripe to push the lead back up to 76-71 with 16 seconds left. Staley missed an off-balance three-pointer and Snipes made two at the line with eight seconds to finish the scoring at 78-71.

The Saints' bench outscored the Bulldog bench, 23-14, including 15-6 in the second half. DeRoeck, an Adrian native, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Snipes led SHU with 19 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line. Adrian shot 31 percent in the opening half but stepped it up in the second half going 17-of-30 (56.7%) from the field.

Young's 22 points came on 7-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the foul line. He dished out three assists and recorded a steal in 39 minutes. Staley went 7-of-18 from the floor and 4-of-11 from the arc to finish with 19 points. He recorded seven assists and four boards in 34 minutes. Chris Primley made an impact off the bench with nine points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 26 minutes. Adrian (2-4) was hurt by poor shooting at the foul line (13-of-23) as a team.