MIDLAND, Mich. – The Madonna University men's basketball team led for all but 62 seconds against NCAA II Northwood University at Riepma Arena on Monday night, however, it was the Timberwolves who led at the final buzzer in an 87-82 Crusaders loss. Northwood improves to 6-5 with the win while the Crusaders slip to 9-5 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• 13-4. That was the score after 3:15 as the Crusaders rode the hot hands of Joshua Reynolds (8 points) and Jonathan Swift (5 points) to jump out to a nine-point advantage. Reynolds ended an 8-0 Wolves run to push the lead back to four and another 3-pointer minutes later broke a tie at 18. Northwood cut the lead to two, 52-53 midway through the quarter, but Madonna responded with a 10-0 run for their largest lead of the game, 12 points. Swift and Reynolds drained back-to-back threes and Antonio Capaldi and Dwight Burton posted back-to-back layups to make it 35-23 MU with 6:14 left. A 20-7 run by the home team gave NU their first lead of the game, 43-42 with 45 seconds left in the half and a Reynolds free throw knotted the game at 43 at the break.
• A Burton layup opened the final 20 minutes and a pair of Reynolds free throws pushed the lead to four. The Blue and Gold steadily added to their lead and pushed it to a second half best nine, 66-57, on a Burton jumper with 12:40 to play. The Timberwolves responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game, but Capaldi knocked down a trey and Mark Mettie added a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five with eight minutes left. Northwood tied the game twice over the next seven minutes and MU was able to answer each time, that is until the final 2:26 in which the home team scored the final nine points, seven from the line, to escape with a win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Reynolds finished with a season-best 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting which included a 5-of-8 mark from beyond the arc
• Burton added 17 points while Mettied netted 15 and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds
• Swift tallied 12 points while Capaldi led the MU bench with eight points
• Northwood won in the paint (42-32), scored more points off turnovers (18-11), second chance points (16-8) and bench points (39-8)
• The Crusaders shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the floor, 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from the 3-point arc and 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the charity stripe while the Timberwolves shot 49.3 percent (34-of-69), 26.9 percent (7-of-26) and 66.7 percent (12-of-18), respectively.

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• On the game - "We played a great game, really played Madonna basketball. Our defensive effort and intensity were there and our ball movement and shot making were also on tonight. We missed some shots at the end otherwise we easily win the game."
• On offensive weapons - "We definitely have some offensive flexibility with 4-5 guys that can lead us in scoring on a given night. Tonight Josh got going early and the team did a great job getting him the ball and the rest of the guys fed off that. His success also opened up opportunities for other guys on the floor. We've got depth and options offensilvey we haven't had in awhile."
• On the "but" of tonight's game - "We lost focus and composure at the end. We played great for 39 minutes. We need to work on understanding the situation and executing late in games. This is something we can build on and we will improve on the finish moving forward.

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders wrap up the 2018 home slate with a non-conference contest with Grace Christian University at the MU Activities Center on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m.
• Fans can receive free entry into the contest with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy to Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots.
• Live coverage will be available on the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.

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