THE BASICS
Score: #24 Madonna University 89, #RV Indiana Tech 73
Records: Madonna (19-7, 11-5 WHAC), Indiana Tech (15-10, 11-4 WHAC)
Location: MU Activities Center - Livonia, Mich.
Turning Point: 16-5 MU run late in the second half

LIVONIA, Mich. - The 24th-ranked Madonna University men's basketball team earned a tough Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference win, 89-73, over Indiana Tech, who received votes in the latest NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, inside the MU Activities Center on Wednesday night. The Crusaders currently sit third in the WHAC, a half-game behind Tech for second and one-game back of Lourdes University for the top spot.

It was an electric atmosphere in the gym as Joshua Reynolds was honored for his 1,000th career point before the game and at halftime, the Crusaders presented the 2019 NAIA Women's Cross Country National Champions with championship rings. 

After falling behind 6-2 with a sloppy 3:30 to open play, the Blue and Gold scored 10 straight and 15-of-17 to take a 17-8 lead. Madonna built the lead to double-digits with a 7-0 run, sparked by a Henry Speight 3-pointer, to make it 26-14. A Joshua Reynolds jumper with 1:33 left in the half pushed the lead to a first-half high 15, 40-25. The Warriors scored the last four points of the period to make it 40-29 at the break. 

A 17-11 Warriors run to begin the second half cut the margin to five, 51-46, but the Crusaders buckled down at both ends and scored six straight to extend the lead back to 11. Indiana Tech got back to within six, 73-67, with 5:07 to play, but that's when the Crusaders scored 16-of-21 points, which included a trio of 3-pointers from Reynolds and a massive alley-oop slam from Mark Mettie to push the lead to 17, 89-72, and seal the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Reynolds led all scorers with 25 points and grabbed six rebounds while Dwight Burton, who hit several key shots, netted 24
• Mettie finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals while Speight also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds
• Madonna outrebounded Indiana Tech 41-32 and scored 19 points off 16 turnovers
• The win snaps a two-game losing streak to the Warriors and MU is now 20-31 vs Tech all-time

NOEL'S NOTIONS


CRUSADER VISION



MILESTONE WATCH

• Madonna is four wins shy of 300 in the program's history
• Reynolds is eighth on the all-time scoring list with 1,458 points and is 25 shy of Chris Dierker's mark of 1,483
  • Only five players in program history have scored 1,500 career points
• Burton is 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,331 points, 28 shy of Dan Kurtinaitis' 1,359 points (1999-04)

UP NEXT

• The Crusaders play their penultimate home contest on Saturday, Feb. 8 as they host Lawrence Technological University at 3 p.m.
• The game is a Blue Out for Arthritis with fans encouraged to donate to raise awareness and help find a cure for Arthritis and will feature a guest speaker at halftime
• Live coverage will be available via the Madonna Athletics Network at www.mucrusaders.com/live. 

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