GARY, Ind.– The Madonna University men's basketball team put four players in double figures and held Indiana University Northwest to 30.1 percent shooting in a 96-82 win at the Savannah Center Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The win moves the Crusaders to 6-2 on the season while the Redhawks fall to 6-3 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Madonna never trailed and led by as many as 21 points in the 14-point victory. A pair of Malik Eichler baskets got the scoring started and a Joshua Reynolds 3-pointer followed by a Dwight Burton layup led to a 9-1 lead. A five-point run by Mark Mettie pushed the lead to 13, 19-6, and a pair of Mettie free throws, a Burton basket and an Eichler three pushed the margin to a first half high 17 points. MU took a 45-34 lead into the break.

• A pair of baskets from beyond the 3-point arc by Reynolds made it a 21-point game, 60-39, with 15:52 to play. The Blue and Gold led by 20-plus points for the majority of the final 20 minutes, but a 9-0 run by the home team with just under two minutes to play cut the lead to 10, 92-82, with 1:09 on the clock. Toriek Miller took over the final minute for MU as he converted all four of his free throws and registered a steal to seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Reynolds finished with a game-high 25 points and went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc while Burton added 21 points and seven rebounds

• Jonathan Swift chipped in 13 points and a team-high four assists while Mettie added 12 points and six boards

• Madonna won on the glass, 48-39, scored 20 points in the paint and had 15 points off turnovers

• The Crusaders shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field, 50 percent (13-of-26) from long range and 78.1 percent (25-of-32) from the free throw stripe while IU-Northwest finished 22-of-73 (30.1%) from the floor, 12-of-38 (31.6%) from three and 26-of-33 (78.8%) from the charity stripe

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "They guys played really hard tonight and set the tone early with our defensive effort. For a team that scores the way [IU-Northwest] does, I thought we bottled them up and made it difficult for them to execute in the first half. Offensively we moved the ball and shot the ball well. Our unselfish play led to some good looks. I'm proud of the guys effort tonight." - Head Coach Noel Emenhiser

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold return to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, nov. 28 when Aquinas College visits the MU Activities Center with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.

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

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