THE BASICS
Score: #9 Madonna University 102, Brescia University 82
Records: Madonna (1-2), Brescia (1-1)
Location: MU Activities Center, Livonia, Mich.
LIVONIA, Mich. - The ninth-ranked Madonna University men's basketball team got a career night from
KJ Sayer and nearly another double-double from
Henry Speight as the Crusaders rolled to a 102-82 win over Brescia University inside the MU Activities Center on Friday night to close day one of the 2019 Bernie Holowicki Classic presented by Hampton by Hilton Detroit/Northville.
The Bearcats, from Owensboro, Kentucky, gave the Blue and Gold a fight for the first 14 minutes as they led by as many as four points and trailed by one, 34-31, after a pair of free throws with 5:26 to play in the opening half. A pair of free throws from Toriek Miller, one from Sayer, a tip-in from Stephen Umfress and a pair of freebies from Speight accounted for a 7-0 run that pushed the MU lead to eight, 41-33. It was part of a larger 19-8 run by the Crusaders to close the first half with an 11-point, 52-41 lead.
Brescia, led by Jalen Rose's three 3-pointers, used an 11-2 run to cut the margin to two, 54-52, early in the second. The Bearcats hung around until the 14:30 mark when Sayer hit a trey to push the lead to nine, 67-58 and sparked a 12-0 MU run to push the margin to 18. The visitors got to within 11 twice more in the contest, but the Crusaders pull away in the final minutes as Noah Campbell converted four free throws in the final 30 seconds to break the 100-point plateau for the first time this season.
In the first game of the night, Lawrence Technological University beat Roosevelt University, 83-67.
TURNING POINT
- 19-8 run for the Crusaders to close out the first half
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
- Speight, who lead the Crusaders with 30 minutes played, also scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds...He was also perfect at the charity stripe
- Sayer, the player of the game, finished with a career-best 17 points and 10 rebounds, his first-ever double-double...He missed just one shot from the field (6-of-7) and one free throw (3-for-4)
- Dwight Burton added 20 points while Joshua Reynolds (14) and Caleb Drumm (10) each finished in double figures
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- 48/26: Madonna dominated on the boards as they outrebounded Brescia 48-26 and had 14 second-chance points to the Bearcats' four
- 25-31: The Blue and Gold shot 80.6 percent from the free throw line as they converted 25-of-31 attempts while BU finish 18-for-21 at the charity stripe
- 11: Madonna had 11 different players score on the night and every Crusader that touched the floor either scored, grabbed a rebound or tallied an assist on the night
MILESTONE WATCH
- Reynolds needs seven points to join the 1,000-point club
- Burton has 808 career points, 192 shy of 1,000 for his career
CRUSADER VISION
UP NEXT
- The Blue and Gold wrap up the Bernie Holowicki Classic presented by Hampton by Hilton Detroit/Northville on Saturday, Nov. 2 as the face Roosevelt at 5 p.m. Lawrence Tech will face Brescia at 3 p.m.
- Live coverage of both games will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.
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