GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Sam Vander Sluis posted a career-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds as the sophomore lifted the No. 2 ranked Golden Eagles to a 75-69 win over rival Aquinas Wednesday night. Cornerstone, which led by 19 with under 10 minutes to play, improves to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the WHAC. The Golden Eagles will head to Indiana Tech on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest against the Warriors.
 
Game Flow
Defense was the story early on as the teams combined for only 20 points in the opening 6:23 of the first but the Golden Eagles started to heat up as the half closed. After two three-pointers from Michael Bradshaw and then a personal 10-2 run from Vander Sluis, CU built a 30-20 lead. That margin grew to 14 at the break after two last minute triples from Eric Readman, including one as time expired to put the Golden Eagles up 38-24.

The lead continued to grow into the second half and after five straight points from Cory Cox, CU found themselves up 61-42 with 9:42 to play. That was when the offense cooled off and the defense was unable to pick up stops in which AQ cut the margin to just three (70-67) with 2:30 to play. Three free-throws from Cory Cox and one from Vander Sluis in the final 18 seconds proved to be the difference as CU escaped with the 6-point win.
 
Say What?
"A lot of the plays that we run for Kyle went to me tonight and I did my best to finish them. I just did what I could to help the team with Kyle out and its always great to get a win over Aquinas" – Sophomore Sam Vander Sluis
 
By the Numbers
25/10 – Double-double for Sam Vander Sluis (10/17 from the field, 5/6 from the line)
10 – Points off the bench for Michael Bradshaw
8:06 – the final field goal of the game for Cornerstone as it scored its final 12 points on free throws
14/7 – Assist to turnover ratio for the Golden Eagles
1 – Player to reach double-figures for the Saints – Jake Bullock who had a game-high 27
3 – Only the third time in his career (82 games) that Kyle Steigenga has not reached double-digit points
 
Up Next
Cornerstone will get a big road test on Saturday as they travel to Fort Wayne to take on Indiana Tech at 3 p.m. No Cornerstone audio coverage will be available but the Warriors will be providing live video.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Aaron Sagraves
CU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Men's Basketball on: Twitter | Facebook