GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Before the action, men's basketball honored their nine seniors on their careers as a Golden Eagle and later celebrated with a 89-67 victory over Aquinas. It was typical close chippy game to start against the Saints, but the Golden Eagles proved to be too much in the second half as they pulled away late. All eight dressed seniors scored on the night with Mason Brooks leading the way 20 points. The move wins Cornerstone to 19-8 (15-4) on the year as they will travel to WHAC Regular Season Champion #RV Indiana Tech for their final game of the year on Saturday, February 22 with tipoff starting at 3 p.m.
 
Game Recap – #RV Cornerstone – 89 Aquinas - 67
 
First Half: Cornerstone – 43 Aquinas – 35

• In his first career start, Aiden Gortmaker started the offense for the Golden Eagles with a nice layup to make it a 3-2 game early.
• After an 8-2 Saint runs to open play, the Golden Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead after a Luke Rowlinson layup.
• The game continued to remain close after the first six minutes of play as the jumper from Mason Brooks tied it at 15.
• The Saints got chippy as after they went up 20-17, they were assessed a flagrant one and then a coaches technical to give Blake Stewart free throws as he would tie it at 20 with 10-minutes to go in the first half.
• The Saints continued to try and play spoiler as another layup gave them a 27-26 advantage.
• A quick 5-0 Saints run saw them extend their lead 34-29 over Cornerstone as 4:30 remains.
• Blake Stewart completed the three-point play to capitalize a 9-0 Golden Eagle run as they took a 38-34 lead over the Saints.
• Mason Brooks would knock down all three free throws before the end of the half to give Cornerstone a 43-35 advantage at the break.

 
Second Half: Cornerstone – 89 Aquinas - 67

• Connor Dykema set the tone to open the second half with a big block as Blake Stewart would drill a three to open a quick 5-0 run to extend their lead 48-35.
• A 9-3 run by the Saints saw them get right back into the game as a three made it 51-44 through the first five minutes of the second half.
• It continued to remain tight but layups from Jack Joldersma and Eli Steffen pushed it to a 10-point game, 60-50 with 12 minutes to go in the second half.
• Andy Mora drilled huge back-to-back threes for the Golden Eagles to help them extend their lead 68-54.
• Blake Stewart scored five-straight points and Andy Mora followed with a layup as the Golden Eagles led 75-59 with seven minutes left.
• Mason Brooks went to work in the paint as back-to-back jumpers quieted the Saints as Cornerstone leads big late 83-62.
• Tre Seydel put the final touches on the game with back-to-back nice jumpers as the Golden Eagles win on senior night 89-67.

 
By the Numbers
20 – Mason Brooks led the way with 20 points to lead all scorers
9 – The Golden Eagles recorded nine blocks on the night
8 – All eight dressed seniors scored
1 – One game remains on the schedule for the Golden Eagles as they look to secure the two seed in the WHAC tournament
 
What's Next?
Men's Basketball hits the road for a matchup against #RV Indiana Tech for the final regular season game of the year on Saturday, February 22.