FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Zel Williams (SR/Detroit, Mich.) nearly scored a career-high, but it wasn't enough for the Madonna University men's basketball team as they opened Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play with a 97-58 setback to Indiana Tech at the Schaefer Center on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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The Warriors (5-0, 1-0 WHAC) scored the first six points and 24 for the first 30 to take an 18-point advantage eight minutes into the game. A pair of Caleb Drumm(SO/Homer, Mich.) free throws ended the run and back-to-back layups from Antonio Capaldi (JR/Eastpointe, Mich.) and Davon Taylor (JR/Canton, Mich.) gave the Crusaders (4-3, 0-1 WHAC) some life and cut the deficit to 12. With 5:53 to play, the Blue and Gold cut the margin to eight, 29-21, with a 14-5 run that was capped by a Williams 3-pointer, a Toriek Miller (FR/Seymour, Ind.) free throw and a Drumm layup. Unfortunately, Tech finished the period on a 17-3 run to take a 48-24 lead into the break.
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Madonna shot 33.3 percent (9-of-27) in the first half while Indiana Tech finished 18-for-35 (51.4%) from the field and hit 7-of-16 (43.8%) 3-pointers. Turnovers were the difference in the first 20 minutes as the Warriors converted 10 MU miscues into 20 points.
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The second half began with each team hitting a pair of 3-pointers, but the Warriors followed that start with nine unanswered points to push the lead to 65-30. A pair of Williams free throws ended the run, but the Blue and Gold never got the defensive stops they needed to make a comeback.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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Madonna finished the night 19-for-60 (31.7%) from the floor, 6-for-21 (28.6%) from the 3-point arc and 14-for-18 (77.8%) from the free throw line while the Warriors shot 47.2 percent (34-for-72) from the field, 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from long range and 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the charity stripe.
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Indiana Tech won on the glass (47-36) and inside (36-18 in the paint) while also scoring more paint points (22-11), bench points (42-33) and points off turnovers (25-1).
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Williams finished with 16 points off the bench, one short of his career-high as he finished 4-of-5 from the 3-point line.
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Taylor added nine points while Lamb added six points and a team-high six rebounds.
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Tech had six players in double figures led by Dylan Phair's 16.