For the first time this season, seventh-ranked Lourdes dropped a road game on Saturday, falling to Madonna 72-65 inside ACCU Arena in Livonia, Mich.
 
"We didn't play with a sense of urgency," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "We need to make some of the intangible plays and we didn't do that late."
 
The Gray Wolves never led in the game as Madonna scored the game's first 11 points in just over four minutes.  Lourdes pulled to within four, only to see the Crusaders push the lead back to 12, 26-14 with minutes left before halftime.  Another 7-0 run by Madonna extended their lead to 15 late in the stanza before taking a 40-26 advantage into the locker room.
 
Madonna led by as many as 16 early in the second half before Lourdes began to battle back.  The Gray Wolves were within nine by the 15-minute mark and used a 14-3 run in just over three minutes to pull within one, 61-60, with 4:32 to play after a jumper by Shaunn Monroe (Charleston, W. Va./Fairborn [Ohio] H.S.).
 
The Crusaders would score 10 of the next 21 points over the next three minutes to go back in front by nine heading into the final minute.  A three-point play by Joey Holifield (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) cut the deficit to six and the Gray Wolves forced a stop defensively, but back-to-back misses from three-point range kept Lourdes from getting any closer down the stretch.
 
Holifield led Lourdes with 21 points, going 10-for-12 from the free throw line while Monroe added 14 more.  Jakiel Wells (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales H.S.) added 11 points on 5-of-7 from the floor.
 
The Gray Wolves forced 17 Madonna turnovers, but the Crusaders shot 55.1% from the floor, including 10-of-18 (55.1%) from three-point range.
 
Brendan Young led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, while grabbing 10 rebounds for Madonna (20-4, 16-2 WHAC).  Matthew MacLellan added 20 points for the Crusaders while Isaac Anderson also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
 
Lourdes (19-3, 15-3) continues its three-game road trip on Wednesday evening with a trip to Livonia, Mich. to battle Lawrence Tech.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Ridler Fieldhouse.