ADRIAN, Mich. - The men's basketball team played on back-to-back nights for the first time since the beginning of the year and after a slow start regrouped for a 41-35 win over visiting North Central College (Ill.) on Thursday.
Sophomore Sean Gallant posted his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Gallant grabbed nine defensive boards and also had two assists, a block and a steal in 35 minutes. He went 5-for-7 from the floor missing both shots behind the three-point arc.
Sophomore Wesley Reed led the Bulldogs with 15 points off the bench in 27 minutes. Reed connected on 5-for-8 from the floor including 3-for-6 from behind the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds including three offensive boards.
The Adrian defense and tempo frustrated the Cardinals as they shot just 25 percent (12-for-48) for the contest. North Central made just five field goals in 27 attempts in the second half totaling 18.5 percent. The Cardinals also went the final 8:59 without a field goal.
Adrian kept it close by making just 34.9 percent (15-for-43) from the floor but did shoot better in the second half going 9-for-21 (42.9) from the floor. Adrian got behind early in the game as NCC led 10-0 at the 13:56 mark. The Bulldogs scored the next seven points to close the gap, but the Cardinals once again went up 10 at 17-7 with 6:57 left in the first half. Adrian went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead down to 17-16 with 1:06 left in the opening half and trailed 19-17 at the break.
Adrian tied it for the first time on their first basket of the second half and the lead would be no larger than four by North Central for the next 10 minutes. North Central built their advantage to 33-27 at the 7:30 mark, but the Bulldogs turned up the intensity and scored the next seven points to take just their second lead of the game at 34-33 with 3:43 to play. Adrian would not give up the lead down the stretch as they kept NCC off the board from the 7:30 mark to the 1:39 mark.
The Cardinals broke their scoreless run with a pair of free throws with 1:39 remaining to cut the Adrian lead to 36-35. The biggest shot of the game came on Adrian's next possession as Wesley Reed canned a three-pointer with 1:12 to play giving AC a 39-35 lead. Neither team scored until Reed hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left which proved to be the winning margin of 41-35. The Cardinals missed their last 14 field goals in the contest.
Adrian (5-5) set a season-high with seven blocked shots as Ray Reed had three to go with five rebounds and three points. Adrian's benched outscored the Cardinal bench, 23-2, in the game.
