LIVONIA, Mich.– The Madonna University men's basketball could not dig out of a 19-point first half deficit in a 77-68 loss to Lawrence Technological University inside a packed MU Activities Center on Wednesday night. The loss is the second in a row for MU and drops the Crusaders to 4-2 on the year and 0-1 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play with the Blue Devils improve to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in WHAC action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a Mark Mettie dunk answered a Lawrence Tech 3-pointer, the Southfield program went on a 13-0 run to push the lead to 16-2, a deficit the Crusaders never recovered from. LTU led by 19 points on three different occasions in the first half and took a 15-point, 42-27, lead into the break.

• The Blue Devils, who shot 36.8 percent (7-of-19) in the first half, began the second 20 minutes with another trey. The Blue and Gold responded with an 8-0 run with all eight points coming in the paint, led by four from Malik Eichler. Madonna was able to keep it close and cut the deficit to six, 64-58, on a Dwight Burton layup with 3:30 to play. After the visitors pushed the lead back to 10, good defensive pressure helped MU to a 6-0 run and a four-point margin, 72-68, with 31 seconds left. Madonna turned the ball over on the next two possessions and LTU hit 5-of-6 free throws in the closing seconds to account for the 77-68 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The biggest difference in the contest came from beyond the 3-point arc as LTU shot 13-of-36 (36.1%) in the contest while Madonna went 5-for-25 (20%).

• The Crusaders finished 27-of-65 (41.5%) from the field and 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw line while the Blue Devils finished 24-of-58 (41.4%) from the floor and 16-of-23 (69.9%) from the charity stripe.

• Joshua Reynolds finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds while Burton added 19 and Jonathan Swift shipped in 11

• Madonna won on the glass, 41-37, and had more points in the paint (36-16), but could not get hot from beyond the arc

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "We didn't have energy tonight and weren't ready to play. We expect to get teams best shot and if we aren't ready to match their intensity we are going to keep having problems. We need to start defending better and coming out of the locker room ready to play." - Head Coach Noel Emenhiser

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold host Lourdes University on Saturday, Nov. 17 with tip-off slated for 3 p.m.

• Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.

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