JOLIET, Ill. - The Madonna University men's basketball team ran its win streak to six games on Thursday with a 91-63 victory over Roosevelt University (Ill.) in the St. Francis Fighting Saints New Year's Classic. The Crusaders improved their record to 12-3 overall on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The teams traded baskets early on, as Madonna led 16-14 at the first timeout of the game with 11:45 remaining in the first half. Later in the half, back-to-back buckets by Isaac Anderson allowed Madonna to take a 25-20 lead and force a Laker timeout. The Crusaders continued to control a majority of the half, staying in front by six points, however with seconds left Ethan Emerzian was fouled shooting a three-pointer. He was able to make all of his free throws and Madonna took a 46-37 advantage into the halftime break. 

In the second half, Madonna came out strong as a layup by Henry Speight and three-point basket by Ryan Nunn put the Crusaders up 51-37. Following a Laker miss, Mark Mettie was able to score and force Roosevelt to call a timeout with 18:26 remaining. Madonna was able to use the strong start to the second half to cruise to victory, outscoring  Roosevelt 45-26 in the final period on their way to victory. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 

• Speight led the way for Madonna with 21 points in 26 minutes of action, going 8-of-13 from the field and grabbing five rebounds. 
• Deric Murray had a strong game off the bench, scoring 15 points. 
• Mettie had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 
• In his season debut, Isaac Anderson scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the Crusaders. 
• As a team, Madonna was 34-of-58 from the field, 5-of-12 from three-point range, and 18-of-24 from the free throw line. 
• The Lakers were led by Julio Montes with 16 points.

UP NEXT: 

Madonna will face the University of Saint Francis (Ill.) at 4:00 pm EST/3:00 pm CST from the Pat Sullivan Center on Friday, December 30th.

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