THE BASICS
Score: #19 Madonna University 86, Concordia University - Ann Arbor 77
Records: Madonna (21-8, 13-6 WHAC), Concordia (9-20, 5-14 WHAC)
Location: Cardinal Fieldhouse, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Turning Point: 10-0 MU run with 5:30 left in the game
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The newly minted 19th-ranked Madonna University men's basketball team withstood the best shot Concordia University - Ann Arbor had to offer inside Cardinal Fieldhouse on Wednesday night and pulled away late for an 86-77 win. The victory keeps the Crusaders in a tie for second in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference standings with No. 23 Lourdes University with one game to play.
It was all Cardinals in the early going, but the Crusaders found a rhythm and slowly built an 11-point margin, 32-21, with 5:19 left in the half. Concordia scored eight straight to cut the margin to three before Juwan Hampton converted three the old fashioned way for the 37-31 halftime lead.
Joshua Reynolds opened the second half with a bucket, but the home team countered with another 8-0 run to tie the game at 39. Mark Mettie scored the next five points and the Crusaders never trailed again. CUAA kept the game close for much of the half, that is until the 5:30 mark. Clinging to a two-point lead, Reynolds drained a free throw and a Henry Speight put-back sparked a 10-0 Blue and Gold run over the next two minutes to extend the lead to 12, 76-64, and seal the victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Mettie continued his impressive play as he finished one rebound shy of his fourth straight double-double and netted 23 points, his most since the season opener when he had a career-high 29...Mettie also had five blocks
- Dwight Burton added 26 points off the bench while Reynolds finished with 18 points, seven steals, four rebounds, and three assists
- MU, led by Mettie, dominated the paint as they outscored Concordia 48-28 inside and netted 20 points off 20 Cardinals' miscues
- The Crusaders improved to 13-2 on the year when they shoot better than 50 percent from the field as they finished 34-of-66 (51.5%) in the win
- The Blue and Gold are 7-4 when the opponent nets at least 10 3-pointers this season; Concordia made 12-fo-33
NOEL'S NOTIONS
- "We expected to get Concordia's best tonight and we did. They played hard and shot the ball well, but our guys were extremely resilient. We handled their runs and responded with timely shots and key defensive stops. It was nice to be able to separate over the last four minutes. Mark made an impact at both ends of the floor and Josh's defense was great tonight. The entire team was in the game tonight and it was a good team win.." - Head Coach Noel Emenhiser on the win
MILESTONE WATCH
- Madonna is two wins shy of 300 in the program's history
- Madonna's 21 wins are the third-most in a single season behind last year's 23 and the 2012-13 team's 25
- Reynolds passed Brandon Slone (1993-97, 1,517) to move into fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,518 points
- He is the sixth player in program history to score 1,500 points
- Burton passed Mike Maryanski (1999-04, 1,384) to move into ninth on the all-time scoring list with 1,398 points
- Burtons has achieved the feat in 62 games, the only player in the top-10 to play in less than 90 career games
UP NEXT
- The Crusaders return to the MU Activities Center for their regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. against the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Before the game, Madonna will honor five seniors who have been instrumental in the most successful seasons in program history.
- Live coverage of the game and the senior day ceremony will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live.
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