Madonna University Athletics

LIVONIA, Mich.-- Madonna University Men's Basketball team opened up Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play at the Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena Wednesday night with a 70-47 win over the visiting Siena Heights University (Mich.) Saints.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mark Mettie started things off in the first half reinforced by Devin Dunn's free throws kept Madonna neck-and-neck with the Saints early on in the game as both teams started a boxing match that would extend through the entirety of the first half.

With the lead at seven with 2:41 left to go, Eian Barker made a basket in the paint for a lead that would evaporate over the course of the next two plus minutes for Madonna to go into the locker room up by one at the half.

Out of the gates, Dunn connected with Mettie for the scoring to remain in Madonna's way as Siena Heights would feistily scratch and claw their way to stay in the game even as the Crusaders started to pull away, going on a run started by a combo of Barker, Ryan Nunn, and Mettie that would see the Crusaders' lead stretch to 10.

With 13:51 to go, Ethan Emerzian would kick off a run of seven points that would effectively end any chance the Saints would have for a comeback, going up as much as 24 with just a few short minutes remaining. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Mettie led all scorer with 20 ahead of Barker with 11 and Emerzian with four
• Barker tagged seven boards, six of them on the defensive end
• Crusaders finished 64.4% from the field 
• This is the lowest points allowed by Madonna since 2018

UP NEXT

Madonna will be on the road for a non-conference contest on Saturday, November 13 at 3:00 p.m. in Goshen, Indiana for a battle with the Maple Leafs of Goshen College (Ind.). 

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