LIVONIA, Mich. – The Madonna University men's basketball team held Aquinas College to a program record 15 points in the first half en route to a 77-44 rout of their Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference foe inside the MU Activities Center on Wednesday night. The win moves the Crusaders to 7-2 on the season and 2-1 in WHAC play while the Saints fall to 1-8 overall and 1-2 in league action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Crusaders made as many 3-pointers (7) as the Saints made baskets in the opening 20 minutes en route to a 49-15 halftime lead. Madonna scored the first six points and 11-of-13 as Jonathan Swift (5) and Dwight Burton (4) combined for nine points in the first five minutes. After the Grand Rapids program cut the lead to four, the Blue and Gold buckled down on defense and held the Saints without a point for seven minutes. The Crusaders scored 20 straight points in that time to all but seal the win. MU put an exclamation point on the first half with a 10-0 run to take the 34-point lead into the break.
• For their part, the Saints did win the second half, 29-28, something that Madonna Head Coach Noel Emenhiser was none to pleased about. While the defense didn't play bad, Aquinas had just eight made baskets in the second half, the Crusaders offense lost its way and soured an otherwise brilliant win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Burton tallied a game-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds while Joshua Reynolds added 18 points, eight boards and three steals.
• Swift finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists while Caleb Drumm added eight rebounds to tie for the team lead.
• The Crusaders netted 32 points in the paint, 20 points off turnovers and 18 bench points.
• MU shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from the 3-point arca nd 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the free throw line while the defense held Aquinas to 24.2 percent (15-of-62) shooting, 17.2 percent (5-of-29) from long range and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from the charity stripe.

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "Overall I thought our guys did a fantastic job. I'm proud of our effort and attention to detail, definitely something we can build off of ahead of a tough game on Saturday." - Head Coach Noel Emenhiser
• "In the first half I thought our defensive effort, communication and ball movement is exactly what we want. [Aquinas] missed some shot that were makeable, so we didn't play a perfect defensive half, but we did make them do some things that they didn't necessarily want to. In the second half I felt we didn't move the ball as well, took some shots that weren't our best and dropped the intensity on defense. Between that and the 32 fouls in the final 20 minutes, it became a much less enjoyable game than it could have been." - Emenhiser

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold return to the hardwood on Saturday, Dec. 1 as they visit Garth Pleasant Arena to take on Rochester College in Rochester Hills at 3 p.m.
• Live coverage, if available, will be posted at www.mucrusaders.com.

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