GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Coming off the heartbreaking loss to Lawrence Tech, the Madonna University men's basketball team would find themselves in another nail-biting conference matchup; this time against the Saints of Aquinas College. Despite finding themselves down early, the Crusaders fought to the very end, closing out the Saints 69-68 in the final seconds of the game and securing another Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams struggled to find their footing on offense in what would turn out to be a very defensive game on both fronts. Coming off a stellar 25-point double-double in their last outing, Henry Speight put the Crusaders on the board first with a deep three-point shot. Shortly after, Mark Mettie foiled the Saints' attempt to strike back with a big-time block. Eventually, Aquinas began to lock in offensively, taking an early lead over Madonna 15-7. Just as the Saints got hot, a game-changing dunk by Matthew MacLellan and another three-pointer by Speight gave the Crusaders the momentum they needed to bounce back. With just over seven minutes left in the first half, the Crusaders reclaimed the lead with a three-pointer from Devin Dunn, going up 21-20. The Crusaders continued to hold the Saints until the final minutes of the half, as Aquinas would jump ahead once again. Going into the break, Aquinas led 38-29.

The Crusaders found themselves down by double-digits early in the second half but didn't let the deficit get to them as they rallied through the final whistle. They quickly bounced back, going on a 12-0 run led by Isaac Anderson, who recorded seven of the twelve points. With just over ten minutes remaining, the game was now tied 49-49. It remained a close one through the final quarter of play. Just as it would seem that Aquinas was beginning to pull away again, Madonna would fire right back. With just under two minutes to play, a three-pointer by Young put the Crusaders up 67-64. However, Aquinas wasn't ready to give up yet, and with 20 seconds remaining, they reclaimed the lead 68-67. More determined than ever, the Crusaders hadn't come that close to just give up then. Down by one point with only a second remaining, Brendan Young came in clutch with two free throws to bring home the win for Madonna, 69-68.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 

• Anderson led the Crusaders in scoring with 17 points and six assists.
• Young came away with 13 points in addition to leading the Crusaders in rebounds with eight.
• Speight stayed hot with 12 points and three rebounds.
• Mettie led the way for the Crusader defense with three blocks and five rebounds in addition to having another double-digit night with 10 points.

UP NEXT

The Crusaders will continue their road trip as they head to Fort Wayne, Indiana to take on the 11th ranked Warriors of Indiana Tech University on Saturday, January 14th at 3:00 pm in a WHAC conference showdown from Schaefer Center.

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