CHICAGO, Ill.– The Madonna University men's basketball team made the final run of a back and forth contest to hold on for a 72-69 win over the University of Saint Francis (Ill.) in the first game of the 2018 Roosevelt New Year's Classic hosted by Roosevelt University inside the Lillian and Larry Goodman Center on Friday night.

The Crusaders improve to 11-5 while the Fighting Saints fall to 10-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Head Coach Noel Emenhiser describe the contest as "a game of runs that we were fortunate enough to come out on top of." Indeed it was as the game featured 13 ties and 16 lead changes. Madonna led for 18:08 while USF led for 15:03 and the game was tied for 6:49. After trading leads, the Crusaders took the largest lead of the half, five points (28-23), with 6:56 left in the half. A 10-4 run gave the Saints a 33-32 advantage with 2:16 to play in the half, but a Mark Mettie jumper and a Joshua Reynolds layup put Madonna in front 36-33 at the break.
• The Blue and Gold trailed 48-46 with 13:48 to play before an Eichler tied the game and sparked a 9-0 run, with seven straight points from Dwight Burton, to take a game-high seven-point lead, 55-48. The Fighting Saints responded with a 14-2 run to go up five, 62-57, with 6:42 to play. It was the Crusaders who had the final run as Jonathan Swift hit a jumper to spark a 13-5 rally for MU as Burton hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the 72-69 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Burton finished with a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds while Swift added 23 points
• Six other players scored for the Crusaders who shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56) from the floor, 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from beyond the 3-point arc and 75 percent (15-of-20) from the free throw line
• Madonna won in the paint (34-26), scored more points off turnovers (17-16) and had more fast break points (9-4) while USF had more second chance points (28-13) and bench points (15-11)
• The Fighting Saints finished 24-for-72 (33.3%) from the field, 8-for-33 (24.2%) from long range and 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the charity stripe

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "Our grit and resilience to not let runs get to us was paramount. We got into some good offensive looks and were able to hold them to some difficult shots which was key to the win. We also forced several key shot clock violations in the second half which proved pivotal."
• "Jon and Dwight  set the tempo offensively, create and move without the ball and found great shots. They came through in a big way tonight. We played a good defensive team that limited our offensive opportunities and those two shouldered the scoring responsibility tonight."

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold wrap up play at the Roosevelt New Year's Classic against the host Lakers on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. EST
• Gameday updates will be available on be following @MUCrusadersMBB on twitter.

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