LIVONIA, Mich.– After a disappointing showing to open Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, a 77-68 loss to Lawrence Tech, the Madonna University men's basketball team played one of their more complete games of the season in an 88-68 drumming of Lourdes University at the MU Activities Center on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders improve to 5-2 on the year and 1-1 in WHAC play while the Gray Wolves slip to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in league action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It was a game of runs in the first half, but it was the Crusaders who controlled the tempo and pace from the start. Mark Mettie dominated the first five minutes as he slammed home Madonna's first two points, tipped in another and recorded a block as the Blue and Gold raced to a 10-4 lead. A Jonathan Swift fastbreak layup made it 22-13, but the Gray Wolves scored the next eight points thanks in part to three MU turnovers against the full court press of the Sylvania, Ohio program. Following a timeout, Madonna used a 10-0 run to turn a one-point game into an 11-point cushion, 32-21. A 13-4 rally by Lourdes made it a one score contest, but a Dwight Burton layup and another Mettie dunk sent MU to the locker room up six, 40-34.

• The Crusaders began to pull away in the second half thanks to a 15-2 run over a 5-minute stretch that was started by an Antonio Capaldi 3-pointer. Burton added five, Swift chipped in four and a pair of Mettie free throws capped the run and pushed the advantage to 23, 74-51. Caleb Drumm hit a three on his birthday to push the lead to a game-high 26 points, 85-59, with 2:11 to play and a late run by the visitors accounted for the final margin, 88-68.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Madonna dominated the glass with a 41-19 rebound differential and had more points off turnovers (12-10), points in the paint (36-26), second chance points (11-4), fast break points (8-6) and bench points ( 21-18).

• The Crusaders outshot the Gray Wolves 57.4 percent (31-of-54) to 44.1 percent (26-of-59) and were lights out from long range (52.9%, 9-of-17). MU also hit 17-of-22 free throws while Lourdes converted 8-of-10 chances at the line.

• Burton finished with a game-high 33 points while Swift and Mettie each added 13.

• Mettie was one of three players (Joshua Reynolds, Malik Eichler) to grab eight rebounds while Reynolds also netted six points and dolled out a team-best five assists.

• In all 11 different Crusaders scored on the night

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "The guys deserve all the credit. They played really hard and unselfish tonight. Our guys worked through the challenges that Lourdes presents on defense and then we moved the ball really well and broke down their defense to get really good looks. When we play like we did tonight it'll be hard to stop us, when we play like we did Wednesday it'll be hard to win."

• "I thought everyone starred in their role tonight. Everything we asked guys to do they did without ego and agenda tonight. Dwight [Burton] did a nice job early of setting up his teammates and when we move the ball it finds him and he took advantage of his opportunities. Mark Mettie played his role really well and Josh Reynolds played phenomenal. You may not see it in the stats but the extra passes [Josh] made, the rebounds he got and defensively he played an unbelievably game. But you can go down the line and everyone did what we needed them to tonight."

UP NEXT

• Madonna returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 20 when they step out of WHAC play with a trip to Gary, Indiana to face Indiana University Northwest at 6 p.m.

• Live coverage links, if available, will be posted at www.mucrusaders.com.

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