Men's Basketball: Crusaders Outlast Racers

LIVONIA, MI – With post-season implications on the line, UNOH (8-15, 4-11) clashed with Madonna (18-6, 11-5) Wednesday, holding the league's second-best offense well below their season averages but came out short in the end 72-64.

The first half was tight with UNOH and Madonna trading baskets, until the Crusaders managed to go on a 6-0 run and looked to take control of the game. However, the Racers didn't lay down and put up a 10-0 run of their own as the Madonna saw their 7-Point lead slowly fade away. With less than ten minutes in the first half, the pesky Racer defense went to work and shut down one of the league's most consistent offenses. Over the final 10:21 of the half, Madonna went 0-15 from the field scoring just eight points, all from the charity stripe, and UNOH held a 29-28 lead.

After trading buckets to start the second half, the Crusader offense started to find some rhythm. A 12-2 run by Madonna put them up nine as they expanded that lead to twelve with less than seven minutes remaining. The Racers continued to fight back, cutting the lead to six with 1:02 left, but a missed three-pointer with 43 ticks on the clock was the final dagger.

UNOH held Madonna eleven points under their season average shooting just 35% from the field, twelve below average.

Biggz Johnson (SO/Lima, Ohio) and Hunter Bode (SR/Cincinnati, Ohio) lead the Racers' scoring with eleven points each. Cedric Delancy, Jr. (JR/Eight Mile Rock, Bahamas) was able to add eight of his own, while collecting four steals, six rebounds and one assist.

After three straight road games, the Racers will finally be back in the Garage on Saturday, February 4, against UM-Dearborn. 3:00 PM Tip.