LIVONIA, Mich.-- Madonna University Men's Basketball fell 69-63 in the final game of the Madonna University Holiday Classic Presented by Aaron Cox Law to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics No. 20 ranked Central Methodist University (Mo.) Saturday at the Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A three-pointer by CMU started the game before a single free throw by Matthew MacLellan gave Madonna a single point in the scoring column to get things started for the Crusaders followed by a MacLellan layup to tie things up at 3-3 early on.

The Eagles sparked a small run of their own before the scrappiness of Brendan Young, Devin Dunn, and Ethan Emerzian kept Madonna within striking range the whole first half as CMU couldn't ever seem to break free from the Crusaders. It wasn't until Emerzian's three-pointer at 11:14 that gave Madonna its first lead of the game at 18-15 where it would roll for the rest of the half, going into halftime with an edge at 39-34.

Dunn and Young would keep Madonna's Top 25 upset hopes alive until Noah Campbell's layup at the 14:08 mark where the Crusaders would not score for another nine and a half minutes as both teams struggled to score. It was then that the Eagles would regain the lead and never give an inch for the Crusaders to catch up. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dunn was the team's scoring leader with 17, MacLellan with 11 and Young with 10, respectively
• Young also had 10 rebounds for a double-double 
• The Crusaders continued to show excellent shooting at the charity stripe, going 84.6% (11-13) in free throws 

UP NEXT

The Crusaders will have a short break before taking on Huntington University (Ind.) at the ACCU Arena on Monday, December 20 at 3:30 p.m. 

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