Despite a 33-point, 13-rebound from McRay White (Cleveland, Ohio/Garfield Heights H.S.), Lourdes saw its homecourt win streak come to an end at 18 on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves fell to Madonna 79-69 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"We couldn't make shots," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "We were 1-of-19 from three and 16-of-23 from the line.  They can shoot the ball from outside and drive to the lane and they did both today."
 
Madonna came out on fire, making 8-of-13 from three-point range in the first half while shooting 59.3% from the floor overall.  Conversely, Lourdes took 13 more shots than the Crusaders in the opening 20 minutes but connected at just a 27.5% clip.
 
The Crusaders used a 17-3 run in less than three minutes midway through the first half to open up a 33-16 advantage, draining four triples in the span.  The Gray Wolves closed to within 13 late in the stanza before Madonna scored the final seven points of the half to take a 45-25 lead into the locker room.
 
The Madonna lead grew to as many as 21, 53-32, just over three minutes into the second half before Lourdes began to chip away.  Nine straight points made it a 12-point game by the 15-minute mark and the Gray Wolves continued to climb back, closing to within eight, 58-50, with 11:30 to play.
 
A basket by White at the 10-minute mark pulled Lourdes to within 59-53 only to see Madonna respond with eight of the next 10 points to push the lead back to 12.  Again, Lourdes fought back.  A White dunk made it 6762 but three straight baskets by Madonna pushed the visitors advantage back to double figures, handing Lourdes its first home loss in two seasons.
 
White finished 15-of-19 from the floor and grabbed six offensive boards as part of his double-double while Joey Holifield (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) added 19 points and four assists.  Holifield also had six offensive rebounds among his eight total.
 
Lourdes finished the game just 37.7% overall from the floor, including the three-point shooting and committed 15 turnovers.  Madonna connected at a 51.9% clip, including 45.8% (11-of-24) from long range.
 
Mark Mettie led Madonna (16-8, 10-4 WHAC) with 22 points while Brendan Young was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc on his way to 14 points.
 
Lourdes (18-5, 10-5) remains home on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves host Indiana Tech.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.