LIVONIA, Mich. - In their final game of the regular season, the Crusaders celebrated Senior Day as they hosted their Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference opponent, the Saints of Aquinas College. Despite a sluggish first half, the Crusaders would go on to blow out the Saints by 31 points, dominantly winning 82-51.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Crusaders took a moment before the tip to honor their seven graduating seniors: Zach Hennessey, Eian Barker, Deric Murray, Geordan Duncan, Devin Dunn, Henry Speight, and Mark Mettie.

Mettie knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession of the game to put the Crusaders on the board first. The Saints fired back, and it was an early-game back-and-forth until Madonna went up 10-5 with an electric dunk from Blake Banks. They weren't home-free by any means, as Aquinas quickly tied the game up only a minute later. After climbing back, the Saints would take the lead with just over ten minutes to play in the first half. A tough three-point play from Speight would tie the game up at 17-17 with ten minutes to play in the first half. The stalemate would ensue through the first half, with a Mettie layup putting the Crusaders up by just one heading into halftime 26-25.

It was a completely different Crusader team coming out of the half, led by Mettie who had an absolutely dominant second half. On the first possession he landed a powerful alley-oop dunk, and scored back-to-back three point shots on their next two possessions, putting the Saints on notice. Another dunk from Banks and a layup from Brendan Young put the Crusaders up 11 before the Saints even knew what happened. The Saint onslaught continued as Mettie recorded another dunk and Ethan Emerzian knocked down a deep three to put the Crusaders up 43-27. No matter what the Saints tried, they couldn't seem to even temporarily slow the Crusaders offense, as the lead climbed to 21 with six minutes remaining. The Saints' hopes to cut their losses were shattered in the final minutes as Madonna continued to run up the score. A last-second three point shot from RJ Nunn would end the game with the Crusaders up by over thirty points, with the final score being 82-51.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 

• Mettie led the Crusaders in points with 20 points and six rebounds in his final regular season game.
• Speight was dominant, recording 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.
• Young led the team in rebounds with 11.
• Banks also recorded double-digit points with 11.
• Every active Crusader player scored today.
• The Crusaders shot 72% from the field in the second half and 57% from three.

UP NEXT

The Crusaders will head to the WHAC Tournament, hosting the Quarterfinal match against Lawrence Tech on Thursday, February 23rd.

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