ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – Jonathan Swift had a career night with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his first career double-double, to help lead the Madonna University men's basketball team to a 75-63 win over Rochester College in a battle of teams receiving votes at Garth Pleasant Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Crusaders improve to 8-2 overall and 3-1 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play while the Warriors fall to 6-6 on the season and 2-3 in WHAC action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams traded runs in the first half with the Blue and Gold leading by as many as nine points before the Warriors battled back for a one-point advantage. The home team led 29-28 with 2:43 to go before the half, but a Swift jumper put the Crusaders back in front and four points from Dwight Burton helped MU to a 34-31 halftime lead.
• There were five ties in the second half, the last coming on a Burton free throw that sparked MU to a 9-0 run to turn a 59-60 deficit into a 69-60 advantage with 2:05 to play. Joshua Reynolds keyed the run with six points, which included a dunk and the dagger 3-pointer. The Crusaders converted the final six three throws to seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Swift tallied 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds to go with three assists.
• Burton finished with 18 points while Reynolds added 16 and Mark Mettied tallied 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
• Madonna shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from beyond the 3-point arc and 88.2 percent (15-of-17) from the free throw line. Defensively the Crusaders limited Rochester to 35.9 percent from the floor, 27.3 percent from three and 8-of-13 from the charity stripe.
• The Crusaders netted 24 points in the paint, recorded six steals and netted six points off turnovers.

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "Jon is a huge part of our program and he had a great week in practice the week. What he did today was coach the team from the floor, which is what we want our point guard to do. He set the tempo offensively and was able to switch up what we were doing on defense. I'm proud of his development and the fact that he has really taken ownership of this team and his leadership roll." - Head coach Noel Emenhiser on Swift's performance
• "This was a big win for our program, not only because of how good we feel Rochester is, but because it gives us some great momentum heading into a big matchup with Cornerstone this week. This was our best defensive effort of the season and hopefully something we can improve on and take with us to Grand Rapids on Wednesday." - Emenhiser on the win

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold continue a tough 3-game WHAC road trip on Wednesday, Dec. 5 when they visit No. 9 Cornerstone University at in Grand Rapids at 7:30 p.m.
• Live coverage, if available, will be posted at www.mucrusaders.com.

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