SYLVANIA, Ohio – Lourdes men's basketball (15-4) (9-4 in WHAC) beat Madonna (13-6) (10-3 in WHAC) 87 to 80 on Wednesday evening, shortening the Crusaders lead on the Gray Wolves in the WHAC standings to one game.
The victory is historic as it improved the Lourdes men's and women's basketball combined home record this season to 20-0! Lourdes is one of only three teams in the entire NAIA with an undefeated home record and one of only two teams (Cumberlands, Ky.) with a combined 20-0 record.
The win also evened the season series with Madonna after losing to the Crusaders back in November.
1st Half
The Gray Wolves started off the game on a slow start, falling behind 8 to 0 after the first minute. Lourdes regrouped quickly, however, and stormed back with an 8 to 1 run of their own to cut the lead to one.
Lourdes' freshman center
Charlie Wood got slammed to the court after a Makyle Doss layup for Madonna. Wood was in some serious pain with a hurt ankle and was helped off the court via the Gray Wolves athletic training staff. Wood wouldn't return the rest of the game and the already taller Crusaders team got an even larger size advantage over the Gray Wolves.
Despite this seemingly game-altering disadvantage, Lourdes rallied together and went on a defensive tear. The Gray Wolves ended up forcing 10 Crusaders turnovers over the next 15 minutes and the game remained tied at halftime 44 to 44.
2nd Half
Lourdes had their best offensive stretch of the game in the first five minutes of the second half, going on a 12 to two run to go up by 10. Senior guard/forward
Stephen Coleman Jr. had a layup and a catch and shoot three-pointer in the run. Coleman Jr. ended the game with 19 points on 72.7% shooting from the field.
Freshman guard
J'Siah Jefferson had a pair of backdown layups in the paint against Crusaders forwards during the run. Jefferson finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds. And of course, sophomore phenom
Derek Fairley got in on the action with a three-pointer of his own during the run. Fairley led all scorers in the game with 23 to stay atop the WHAC points per game leaderboard.
Sophomore guard
Adonus Abrams had a pair of layups and a three-pointer to extend the lead to 13 (65 to 52) halfway through the second half. Abrams was an enormous presence off the bench for Lourdes in the game, playing 26 minutes and scoring 13 points.
Madonna later cut the lead down to single digits with seven minutes left in the half. However, the Crusaders' hope was short lived as Coleman Jr. buried another three-pointer and then had a massive coast-to-coast block against the backboard glass, denying Madonna's Joey Liedel a layup. Coleman Jr. talked about his block and his presence on both ends of the floor postgame.
"When I got that block, I was thinking about getting back on defense and stopping the transition so we could get on offense and continue to play our game," Coleman Jr. said. "My mindset is being a leader for my team and to use the experience that I have to be able to play my full game."
The Ebeid Rec Center erupted after Coleman Jr.'s block and all the momentum swung Lourdes' way the rest of the game. Coleman Jr. and Jefferson each added some mid-range jumpers to extend the lead to 14 with four minutes left.
Madonna cut the lead down to seven over the last few minutes but couldn't catch up to the cushion that Coleman Jr., Jefferson and Fairley gave the Gray Wolves.
Stats
Lourdes had one of their best offensive games of the season, shooting 54.1% from the field and 52.9% from three-point range. The Gray Wolves were outrebounded by the Crusaders by 14 but won the turnover battle by eight.
Coach DuPree's Postgame Comments
"I thought our guys approach to this game, even with the slow start, was spot on," coach DuPree said. "We knew what was at stake and we went out and we played like it from start to finish. I feel like the effort was there for 40 minutes and that's what it has to be in order to beat a good team like that. This was a great bounce back win for us, especially considering what we want to accomplish by the end of the year."
Next Game
Lourdes heads on the road next to take on Michigan Dearborn on Saturday at 3pm.
