Lourdes held off a hard-charging Madonna squad down the stretch on Wednesday night, defeating the Crusaders 67-62 at the Activities Center in Livonia, Mich.
 
The victory is the Gray Wolves third straight, and the first time Lourdes has won three in a row since opening the 2015-2016 season.
 
"I'm extremely proud of the way we won as a team tonight," head coach Josh Gibson said afterwards.  "It is one of the first times this season that we found a way to win without playing our best."
 
Najeeb Johnson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights H.S.) scored 20 points, knocking down four three-pointers, and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Anthony Swanigan (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) added 17 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor.
 
Lourdes scored the game's first six points and never trailed during the opening 20 minutes, although the Crusaders pulled even on three occasions.  Tied at 15, Johnson and Evan Vasquez (Delta, Ohio/Delta H.S.) hit back-to-back triples to spearhead a 7-0 run to regain the advantage, one that grew to as many as 12 following another Johnson three.
 
The Gray Wolves led by 10, 33-23, at the break, but Madonna scored the first eight points of the second half to pull within two over the first five minutes.  Lourdes was slowly able to extend the lead back to seven, 43-36, at the 11-minute mark, but the hosts again clawed back.  A three-pointer with 6:30 to play tied the game, but Johnson again answered.
 
After the lead went back to four with four minutes to play, Madonna scored seven of the next eight points, taking the lead 60-58 with 2:34 to play on a layup by Khalil Malone.  The Crusader advantage for the day would last just 23 seconds though, as Kyle Stergis (Garfield Heights, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.) knocked down a three and the Gray Wolves would not relinquish the lead down the stretch.  Madonna was still within one in the final minute, but Johnson's final trey from the right side sealed the victory.
 
"We got huge contributions and huge shots down the stretch from a lot of different guys who were ready when their number was called," Gibson added.
 
Lourdes shot 44.4% from the floor and committed just seven turnovers on the night while the Crusaders connected at a 39.7% clip, but saw the Gray Wolves block seven shots.
 
Malone led Madonna (11-18, 6-15 WHAC) with 18 points while Austin Johnson added 12 more.  The Crusaders also outrebounded Lourdes 41-34 on the night and held a 40-24 edge scoring inside.
 
"Even though we fell short of our goal of making the tournament, I'm happy with the way we have played down the stretch, and we have played with integrity," Gibson concluded.
 
Lourdes (7-21, 6-15) will close out its 2016-2017 season on Saturday evening, traveling to Adrian, Mich. to battle Siena Heights.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.