Mens Basketball wins Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championship
71
Cornerstone CU 20-12
79
Winner Madonna MU 25-8
Cornerstone CU
20-12
71
Final
79
Madonna MU
25-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Cornerstone CU 38 33 71
Madonna MU 41 38 79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Zachary Shore

TICKET PUNCHED! No. 14 @MUCrusadersMBB captures second WHAC Tournament Championship, qualifies for NAIA Tournament

THE BASICS
WHAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Score: #14 Madonna University 79, Cornerstone University 71
Records: Madonna (25-8), Cornerstone (20-12)
Location: MU Activities Center - Livonia, Mich.
Turning Point:  6-0 Madonna run over final 2:12
 

LIVONIA, Mich. -  For just the second time in program history the Madonna University men's basketball team, ranked 14th in the NAIA, has won a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament championship having defeated Cornerstone University 79-71 in front of a sold-out crowd inside the MU Activities Center on Monday night. 

The Crusaders also become the first team in program history to go to back-to-back NAIA National Tournaments as they earn the WHAC's second automatic bid. 

It all boiled down to the final 3:40 as Cornerstone whittled down a double-digit MU lead to just one, 70-69. The Crusaders responded with three free throws and, after a Golden Eagles layup, Henry Speight converted in close and Dwight Burton sealed the game with a fastbreak dunk in the final 25 seconds for the victory. 

Cornerstone led early, 20-13, but MU slowly picked away at the lead and a Speight and-1 with 6:05 left in the first gave MU its first lead since the 15:36 mark at 25-24 and a Stephan Umfress 3-pointer broke a tie at 25 and MU never relinquished the lead. A 9-1 MU run to open the second half gave the home team all the momentum and the Blue and Gold maintained a healthy margin for much of the half until the 6:46 mark. A Joshua Reynolds triple put MU in front 70-61 but MU went the next 3:30 without scoring and CU cut the lead to one, 70-69. That's when Reynolds, Speight, and Burton led MU to the win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
  • Speight led MU with 19 points and 12 rebounds, his second straight double-double while Buton added 16 points and seven rebounds
  • Mettie finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds to tie Speight for the team lead with seven double-doubles while Reynolds added 14 and Caleb Drumm netted 10
  • MU committed just nine turnovers and tallied 17 assists
  • The difference in the game was at the free-throw line where MU shot 82.4 percent (14-of-17) while the Golden Eagles converted 9-of-17 (52.9%)
CRUSADER VISION





MILESTONE WATCH
  • Madonna tied the 2012-13 team, which won the other WHAC tournament title, for wins in a season with 25
  • Reynolds remains fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,601 career points
    • He joins Noel Emenhiser (2,198), Bobby Naubert (1,914), Mike Massey (1,761) and Travis Schuba (1,673) as the only plays in program history with at least 1,600 points
  • Burton passed DJ Bridges (2004-08, 1,499) on the all-time scoring list with 1,505 career points
    • He is the seventh player in program history with at least 1,500 points and has achieved the feat in 66 games, the only player in the top-10 to play in less than 90 career games
UP NEXT
  • The Crusaders will find out their seed in the 2020 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship on Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. EST when the NAIA reveals the bracket. Fans can catch the reveal show live on Facebook.
  • Watch Live on Facebook
  • Fan information for the championships is available here and includes ticketing and schedule information. 
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