THE BASICS
Score: #RV Madonna 78, University of Michigan-Dearborn 66
Record: MU (20-8, 13-5 WHAC), UMD (8-19, 6-12 WHAC)
Location: UMD Fieldhouse - Dearborn, Mich.
 

---

DEARBORN, Mich. – Freshman Mark Mettie continued his dominant play inside as he recorded his second career double-double, with career highs in points (23) and rebounds (13), to lead the Madonna University men's basketball team to a 78-66 victory over University of Michigan - Dearborn inside the Michigan Dearborn Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

"Today really showed the growth of our team as we continue to push toward the postseason," said Madonna Head Coach Noel Emenhiser. "We are really starting to understand and play to our strengths. The guys did a great job communicating on the floor and making adjustments on the court. We've come a long way this year and are on the right path as the regular season comes to an end."

The win, the Crusaders third in six days, was in the balance until an early run in the second half. It was a tightly contested first half as the Wolverines held the largest lead of five points, 22-17, with 7:19 to go in the period. Three consecutive 3-pointers, two from Mettie and one from Antonio Capaldi, put Madonna up three, but the home team responded and went back up three with 2:06 to play. That's when Dwight Burton took over and scored the final seven points of the half, which included a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to give the Blue and Gold a 37-33 lead at the half.

The Crusaders opened the second half on a 17-6 run, highlighted by four three's, one each from Joshua Reynolds, Mettie, Burton and Caleb Drumm, to push the lead to a game-high 15 points, 54-39. A plethora of early fouls in the half, 29 total,  led to both teams playing the majority of the second half in the bonus which showed as the teams combined for 38 free throws in the final 20 minutes. The home team scored 9-of-11 points to cut the lead to eight, but every time they got within eight, MU drew a foul and converted a pair of free throws to push the margin to 10.

UM-Dearborn cut the lead to six, 66-60, with 5:09 to play, but a Mark Mettie dunk followed by layups from Reynolds and Swift push the lead back to 12 points and Madonna converted down the stretch to seal a third straight win.

TURNING POINT

• A 24-6 MU run that began with 2:06 ro play in the first half and ended with MU up 15 with 14:24 to play.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

• Burton matched Mettie's game-high 23 points while the freshman collected a game-best 13 rebounds and added a block, steal and an assist. Reynolds finished with 16 points and a team-best four assists.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Mettie finished 3-for-3 from beyond the arc after hitting just 5-of-29 attempts this season
• Madonna turned 18 Wolverine miscues into 24 points,  won in the paint, 24-16, and on the glass 33-24
• The difference in the game was outside shooting as MU finished 10-of-25 (40%) from beyond the arc with UMD converted 5-of-19 (26.3%)

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders head west to Grand Rapids on Wednesday, Feb. 13 for their penultimate regular season contest against Aquinas College with tip off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
• Live coverage of the game will be available via the AQ Sports Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.

CONNECT WITH THE CRUSADERS: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
SUBSCRIBE/DOWNLOAD TEAM SCHEDULES: Download Center
DOWNLOAD THE NEW MOBILE APP: Google Play | iOS