Site: Dearborn, Mich. (UMD Fieldhouse)
Score: Madonna University 70, University of Michigan-Dearborn 62
Records: MU 4-17 (1-5 WHAC); UMD 4-16 (1-5 WHAC)
Next MU event: Wednesday January 27 at Concordia (Concordia Fieldhouse)

BOX SCORE

DEARBORN, Mich. (MadonnaCrusaders.com) - - A wire-to-wire lead sparked by a career-high 23 points from junior Bryant Slaughter (Westland, Mich.) gave the Madonna University men's basketball team its first conference win of the season on Saturday (Jan. 23) by a 70-62 final against the University of Michigan-Dearborn inside the UMD Fieldhouse.

Slaughter led all scorers with his 23 markers while freshman Kevin Henry (Toledo, Ohio) posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 assists. Sophomore Josh Gay (Woodburn, Ind.) added 13 points, powered by 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc for the Crusaders. Myke White led a trio of Wolves in double figures with 19 while Matt Ponik added a double-double of this own with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Crusaders opened the game on a 4-0 run and were up 18-7 just under eight minutes into the game on a Henry jumper. The Wolves crept back in and trailed by just six (23-17) with 7:31 to go in the half but jumpers from senior Leroy Allen (Detroit, Mich.) followed by scores from Gay and Ryan Waidmann (Canton, Mich.) and a score from Mitch Cieslak (Brighton, Mich.) put the Crusaders back up by 12 at 31-19 with 2:56 on the clock.

A pair of free throws from Ronald Wilson cut the MU lead to nine with 37 ticks left but a three from Slaughter sent the two sides to the locker rooms with Madonna on top by 12 at 39-27.

UMD got back to with in five at 42-37 early in the second half but back-to-back threes from Henry and Slaughter put MU back up by 11 (48-37) with 16:18 left.

The Crusaders maintained their lead, not letting it slip below seven until the Wolves were able to take advantage of a Crusader miscue to make it a five-point game at 65-60 with 1:07 left. UMD committed a turnover of its own and that led to a pair of free throws for Slaughter which pushed the lead back up to seven and two more free throws from Gay and one from Henry in the final 26 seconds gave MU the 70-62 win.

The Crusaders stay on the road for their next game, making the short trip down M-14 to take on Concordia on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm. 

QUOTES
Head Coach Noel Emenhiser
On the game as a whole:
"I really thought we took a step forward today in terms of overall team effort and attitude. From the time we arrived at the gym through out the entire game, the team was focused on one goal and that was getting the win and while we had some guys to well in statistical categories, it was really a selfless effort all the way around and I'm proud of them for that."

On the role the post players had today:
"We've got quality depth in the post and we wanted to make sure we utilized that. While it might sacrifice a couple of the guys' points, when we go five deep in the post, we really get a lot of balance and we are constantly running new guys at the other team. We got a lot of production out of them as a group today."

On the game Kevin Henry had:
"We want Kevin to read the game and that's what he did today. He took the shot when it was open, he made the plays for others and that's all we can ask out of him. The statistic I love to see is the 10 assists compared to just three turnovers. When he is distributing the ball like that he is making us a much better team."

Contact: Patrick Moore (734) 432-5834