THE BASICS
Score: #9 Madonna University 86, Huntington University 85
Records: Madonna (7-2), Huntington (4-3)
Location: Platt Arena - Huntington, Indiana
HUNTINGTON, Ind.- The ninth-ranked Madonna University men's basketball team traveled to Platt Arean on Saturday afternoon and captured the programs first win over Huntington University, 86-85.
Joshua Reynolds led the Crusaders to a 7-2 record with 30 points, three shy of his career-high and grabbed ream-best nine rebounds, while Dwight Burton poured in 24, which included a perfect 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. Henry Speight added 13 for MU while Ryan Nunn led the bench with eight points.
It was a tight game throughout as Madonna held the game's largest lead of just eight points early in the first half and Huntington led by five points in the second 20 minutes. The game featured 11 ties and seven lead changes.
Madonna controlled much of the first half and trailed for only 81 seconds of the opening period, but it was the Foresters that took a 40-39 lead into the break. Twice the Crusaders built the lead to six, only to see the home team bring it back to two points. Then with 5:55 remaining in the first half, Burton scored six straight points for an eight-point margin, 34-26, with 4:47 left. Reynolds answered a Foresters' bucket with on one o his own to maintain the advantage, but HU closed the final 3:02 on a 12-3 run for the halftime lead.
A pair of Reynolds scores gave MU the lead to start the second half, but an 8-0 run by the Foresters gave the home team their largest lead, 48-43. Reynolds (5) and Burton (2) combined for a 7-0 run to go back in front for good 50-48. Madonna led by as many as seven points in the final 20 minutes, but Huntington tied the game nine times, the last coming with 2:40 to play at 82. Burton scored the final four points for MU and a pair of missed free throws and a key forced turnover on the final possession preserved the win for the Blue and Gold.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- 50.8/43.5/92.3: Madonna continued to play well offensively as they shot better than 50 percent (32-of-63) from the field for the seventh time this season, made 10-plus three-pointers for the fifth time (10-of-23, 43.5%) and shot better than 90 percent (12-of-13) from three charity stripe for the second straight contest
- 50/39.1/66.7: At the other end of the floor, HU made 32-of-64 (50%) attempts, shot 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc and finished 12-of-18 (66.7%) at the line
- 36-33: The Blue and Gold won on the glass as they grabbed 36 rebounds to the Foresters' 33
MILESTONE WATCH
- Burton has 955 career points, 45 shy of 1,000 for his career
NOEL'S NOTIONS
- "We had a really great effort today from our team. They gave everything they had on every possession and it was needed. Huntington is a great team that puts a lot of pressure on you with their ball and player movement. The guys buckled down and got two huge stops down the stretch." - Emenhiser on the win
- "Really impressive how right now we have different guys stepping up on different nights. Josh was great tonight, easy to point to the scoring, but he played a complete game. He made one of the top scorers in the country work extremely hard to get anything going, passed really well and rebounded. Dwight also played great and Henry, KJ, Caleb, Steph and both Ryans each starred in their roles. The guys that didn't play also brought great energy and gave us good looks this week in practice." - Emenhiser on the team
UP NEXT
- The Blue and Gold return home for a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference contest again Rochester University on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
- Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.
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