GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Madonna University men's basketball team built some momentum to end the first half and led after 20 minutes, but a poor second half led to an 81-66 loss to No. 9 Cornerstone University inside Mol Arena on Wednesday night.

The loss drops the Crusaders to 8-3 on the season and 3-2 in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play while the Golden Eagles improve to 11-3 on the year and 6-0 in league action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Crusaders scored third first five points on a layup and a 3-pointer by Malik Eichler. The home team scored the next eight points and the teams remained knotted in a back-and-forth affair until the Golden Eagles pushed the lead to six. 26-20, at the 5:06 mark. A Dwight Burton layup cut the margin to four and sparked a 12-4 run by the Blue and Gold, which included a Clarke Lamb three and five more points from Burton, to give Madonna the 32-30 lead at the break.
• Eichler again opened the half with a basket, but the home team score nine of the next 12 points to take the lead. The teams proceeded to trade baskets before a 9-0 run at the halfway mark of the half gave Cornerstone a 10-point margin, 54-44. The lead grew to 15 before MU again widdle the margin to 10 points, but the Golden Eagles used an 11-3 run to push the advantage to 18, 75-57, with 2:17 to play to seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dwight Burton matched CU's Riley Costen with a game-high 23 points to go with four rebounds, two steals and an assist
• Joshua Reynolds added 12 points and grabbed seven boards while Eichler added 12 points and four rebounds
• Jonathan Swift led the team with eight rebounds and added four points and two assists
• Madonna shot the fall fairly consistently as they finished the night 27-for-67 (40.3%) from the floor, 6-of-19 (31.6%) from beyond the 3-point arc and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the free throw line, but the defense was an issue. MU held CU to just 34.3 percent (11-of-32) in the first half, but the home team shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the second 20 minutes which included a 7-for-14 (50%) mark from long range. The Golden Eagles also converted 20-of-26 (76.9%) free throws.
• Madonna was outrebounded 48-32 but scored more points in the paint (36-26), points off turnovers (22-2) and fast break points (14-0).

NOEL'S NOTIONS

• "We played a solid first half, but we failed to make the adjustments in the second half that would have allowed us to be successful. I didn't have our players in the best position to succeed tonight, but we will work to correct that before Saturday." - Head Coach Noel Emenhiser

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Gold wrap-up a 3-game WHAC road trip on Saturday, Dec. 8 when they travel to Adrian to square off against Siena Heights University with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m.
• Live coverage, if available, will be posted at www.mucrusaders.com.

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