THE BASICS
Score: #19 Madonna University 84, University of Michigan-Dearborn 73
Records: Madonna (22-8, 14-6 WHAC), UM-Dearborn (17-13, 10-10 WHAC)
Location: MU Activities Center - Livonia, Mich.
Turning Point: 11-3 MU run midway through the second half
LIVONIA, Mich. - On a day in which the 19th-ranked Madonna University men's basketball team honored five seniors who have helped reshape the program, the Crusaders clinched the second seed in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament with an 84-73 win over the University of Michigan-Dearborn in front of a standing-room-only crowd inside the MU Activities Center on Saturday.
The back-and-forth contest included five ties and 14 lead changes, but 12 of the lead changes and four ties came in a tightly contested first half. It was a hot start for MU as Dwight Burton and Joshua Reynolds hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take an early lead, but an 8-4 run by the Wolverines gave the visitors the 14-8 advantage. Madonna battled back with a 6-0 run, all from Juwan Hampton, to give MU a 32-30 lead. The teams traded the lead over the final 3:35 of the half with UM-Dearborn taking the 42-40 lead into the break.
Henry Speight gave the Blue and Gold early momentum in the second half as he converted back-to-back 3-pointers to put MU back in front, but a 10-1 run by the Wolverines gave them a 54-49 lead. Burton responded with five unanswered points and sparked a 20-5 MU run over the next five minutes of game time to take a 10-point, 6-59 lead with 8:03 to play. Madonna never trailed again and the lead provided head coach Noel Emenhiser the opportunity to pull his seniors one at a time over the final minute of play.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Reynolds and Burton, two of the most prolific scorers in program history, each scored 23 points and had four assists while Burton added five rebounds and Reynolds had three steals and four rebounds
- Hampton added 10 points and six rebounds while Caleb Drumm, another senior, added six points
- Mark Mettie was a difference-maker inside as he grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and had five blocks
- Madonna scored 17 points off 13 UM-Dearborn turnovers and had 17 second-chance points and 22 bench points
CRUSADER VISION
MILESTONE WATCH
- Madonna is one win shy of 300 in the program's history
- Madonna's 22 wins are the third-most in a single season behind last year's 23 and the 2012-13 team's program-record 25
- Reynolds remains fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,541 career points
- He is the sixth player in program history to score 1,500 points
- Burton remains ninth on the all-time scoring list with 1,421 career points
- Burton has achieved the feat in 63 games, the only player in the top-10 to play in less than 90 career games
UP NEXT
- The Crusaders host seventh-seed Siena Heights University in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
- Live coverage of the game will be available via the Madonna Athletics 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