LIVONIA, Mich.-- A 86-78 win will inflate the Madonna University Men's Basketball team's record to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) as it played the formidable Lourdes University (Ohio). 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Madonna bolted out to an eight point lead to start the game behind Jalen Miller, Devin Dunn, and Ryan Nunn before Lourdes' offense kicked into gear. Freshman Ethan Emerzian then lit a fire from the bench that wouldn't be cooled off for several minutes as the Troy native went 5-5 from three points land to launch himself to a quick 15 points in the first half. 

The Crusaders led by as many as 14 in the half with the Gray Wolves unable to close the gap for the latter 10 minutes of the game, clawing back within two going into halftime with an uncharacteristic 43-41 score at halftime in favor of Madonna.

For the second-straight game in a row, Miller started scoring in both the first and second halves as the Flint junior scored a made layup. Nunn and MacLellan picked right back up where they left off as the Gray Wolves would not go away quietly all throughout the second 20 minutes. 

A two and a half minute scoring drought was broken at the 4:28 mark by MacLellan in the paint to go up by nine points as things started to get tense inside the Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena. Two straight good baskets from Lourdes followed by clutch free throws from Dunn began to solidify Madonna's 13-15 from the charity stripe in the second half. 

With 16 seconds left and the lead now eight, the panic started to set in for Lourdes as the Gray Wolves send Dunn and Nunn to the free throw line before time expired. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Emerzian had a game-high 27 points for a nice benchmark to beat the rest of the season in the freshman's early college career
• Dunn held 12 points while MacLellan had 10, respectively, as three Crusaders had double digit points in the scoring column
• Brendan Young dominated on the defensive end with ten total rebounds, eight of those coming on defense with a single block
• Madonna had 29 points off of turnovers to the Gray Wolves' nine

UP NEXT

An early Tuesday matchup is in store against University of Michigan-Dearborn on November 23 at 7:30 PM as WHAC play continues.

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