ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's basketball team lost 70-66 to Lawrence Tech in the Saints (1-5, 0-2 WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) home opener. SHU was 11-24 from long range in the game as the team shot a season-best 45.8% from beyond the arc.
Jayden Sims led the Saints with 24 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor. Sims made four of his six attempts from deep and was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line. Davin Walker was 4-5 from three for 19 points and led the team on the boards with seven rebounds in the losing effort. Kiewuan Graham finished with a team-high four assists.
The Blue Devils scored the first six points in the opening three minutes of the game. Sims made a layup that sparked a 7-2 run for the Saints, cutting the LTU lead to 8-7. Luis Young hit a jumper from range that ignited a 5-0 run for SHU as the Saints took their first lead of the game, 19-14, with just north of 10 minutes remaining in the opening period. A three-point jumper from Lawrence Tech began a 12-0 run for the visitors as the lead changed to 26-19 with just under seven and a half minutes. Sims drilled another three, and Graham made a layup to bring the Saints back within two points of the lead. The Blue Devils' 5-0 run gave the game its first double-digit lead, 39-29, with 1:25 left in the first half. Elijah Kimmons hit a three to cut the lead back to single-digits before the teams entered the locker room at the half.
The Saints came out hot in the second half as they rattled off 12 points in the opening 2:10 to jump to a 44-39 lead. Walker hit a pair of free throws to give SHU its largest lead of the game, 52-45 at the 15:10 mark. Blake Lund hit a three-pointer that ended a 3:19 field goal drought for Lawrence Tech and started a 9-0 run that gave the visitors a 58-52 advantage. Sims and Walker made a pair of free throws to bring the Saints within a bucket of tying things up (58-56) with 10:06 left in regulation. Walker nailed a three, and Max Moratinos made a layup to reclaim the lead (65-64) for SHU with just three minutes left. However, back-to-back layups for LTU flipped the advantage again, and the Saints were forced to foul in the game's closing minute.
Up Next
The Saints travel to Ann Arbor this Wednesday, November 17, for a WHAC meeting with Concordia (Mich.) at 7:30 p.m.
