LIVONIA, Mich. - Madonna University (1-0) defeated Great Lakes Christian (1-2) 92-78 on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Livonia, answering a second-half rally with five straight points from Joey Liedel to regain breathing room. DeAntwan Randall led the Crusaders with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Gor Ruey opened the scoring with a dunk off a Makyle Doss assist, but the visitors moved ahead and took a 13-11 lead on Teon Armstrong's basket with 15:39 left in the first half. Doss made two free throws at 14:25 to put Madonna ahead for good, 16-15. Koby Christopher followed with a steal and an assist on Doss's fast-break layup, and Mario Johnson later capped an 8-0 run with a layup off Liedel's assist for a 30-21 advantage.
Johnson's basket with 2:13 remaining pushed the lead to 42-31, Madonna's largest margin of the half. Great Lakes Christian repeatedly trimmed the deficit to eight, including on Jaden Clark's layup with 14 seconds left. Ruey answered with a dunk off Johnson's assist four seconds before halftime, sending the Crusaders into the break ahead 48-38. Ruey scored all 14 of their points before halftime as Madonna shot 18-of-36 from the field and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Randall supplied 16 second-half points, including a layup that stretched the lead to 56-42 and two free throws following an offensive rebound that made it 63-47. Madonna reached a 70-53 advantage with 9:23 remaining, and Christopher's 3-pointer restored that 17-point cushion after a Logan Blackledge three. The visitors then scored eight unanswered points, closing to 73-64 on Joshua Christian's basket at 6:29. Liedel stopped the rally with a 2-pointer at 5:49 and added a 3-pointer at 5:12 to push the lead back to 14.
Blackledge's third 3-pointer of the half brought Great Lakes Christian within 84-74 at 2:32, but Madonna answered with another decisive stretch. Randall converted a layup and made the ensuing free throw at 2:09, Doss hit a 3-pointer at 1:44 and Liedel finished a layup at 1:04. That 8-0 run established Madonna's largest lead, 92-74. Clark made two free throws with 36 seconds left, and Rael Cochran made the final two with 20 seconds remaining.
Six Crusaders scored in double figures. Doss finished with 20 points, seven assists and two blocks while making all six free-throw attempts. Liedel contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Johnson added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Christopher scored 10 with three assists and no turnovers. Jahkil Jackson helped on the boards with seven rebounds. Cochran paced the visitors with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists; Armstrong added 13 points and five steals, and Clark scored 12.
Madonna paired a 48-37 rebounding advantage with 22 assists and a 42-32 edge in paint scoring. The Crusaders shot 47.8% overall and made 9-of-20 3-pointers, while Great Lakes Christian finished at 35.1% from the field and 5-of-28 from long range. The visitors kept pressure on Madonna by turning the Crusaders' 17 turnovers into 24 points, compared with six points off turnovers for Madonna.
Madonna continues the 2026-27 campaign when they travel to Rio Grande, Ohio to face of with the Redstorm of the University of Rio Grande on Friday, October 30, 2026 at 5:00 PM.