LIVONIA, Mich. - The Lourdes Men's Basketball team (21-9, 14-8 in WHAC) fell to top-seeded Madonna (23-7, 19-3 in WHAC) in the conference tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

The game was intense from the start to finish with fans from both sides electrifying Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena. 

The Gray Wolves fans packed the East side of the gym and were cheering passionately for the team the entirety of the game, giving Lourdes an extra boost most road teams wouldn't have during a postseason matchup. 

1st Half
The crowd noise became amplified immediately after Lourdes senior guard/forward Stephen Coleman Jr. tore the roof off of the building with a thunderous dunk a minute into the game. The dunk was unfortunately followed by a technical foul that gave Madonna a little separation, pushing the Crusaders lead to 11-7 with 18 minutes left. Coleman Jr. collected 13 more points throughout the game and also grabbed 12 rebounds for a postseason double-double. 

A couple minutes later, Coleman Jr. and sophomore guard Adonus Abrams traded a couple three pointers to cut the Madonna lead to two points. 

Abrams finished the game with 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. If the team makes the national tournament he has a chance to pass his head coach, Jake Dupree, in the Lourdes record book. Abrams needs six more steals to tie DuPree's school single season record.
 
Lourdes took their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 10 minutes left to go in the first half after a goaltending call on the Crusaders. However, Madonna got the lead right back after a Derek Fairley charge led to an eventual Joey Liedel three pointer for the Crusaders.

With Fairley in quick foul trouble, the bench had to step up for the Gray Wolves. Freshman center Charlie Wood had an immediate impact, nabbing four rebounds in the final eight minutes and giving Lourdes some second chance points.

Lourdes regained the lead after Madonna tried to complete an alley oop dunk. The ball was broken up by Stephen Coleman Jr. and eventually scored for an and-one basket by freshman guard J'Siah Jefferson.

The Terracotta & Gray extended the lead to six points with four minutes left after forcing back-to-back jump balls on defense that turned into transition layups.

The biggest turnaround in the half was by Fairley who had nine of his 11 first half points in the final five minutes. His improved play kept Lourdes in the lead with a 42-35 advantage at the half.

Fairley ended the game with 28 points. He now has 694 points on the season, tying Shaunn Monroe's total from last season as the single-season scoring leader in Lourdes history. Although Fairley currently shares the title with Monroe, he could officially break it if the team gets an at-large bid to the national tournament.

2nd Half
The second half started off slow for Lourdes as the team surrendered nine straight points to Madonna. Derek Fairley hit a crossover triple to end the run and gave Lourdes the slight lead back. Adonus Abrams then made another and-one basket to extend the lead back out to three points.The two teams then traded baskets between the 13 to 10 minute marks, giving Lourdes a 63-59 lead with half the frame to play.

Madonna then went on a crucial 11-4 run, executed by good free throw shooting and constantly getting to the foul line. Madonna regained their first lead since the middle of the first half at 70-67 with seven minutes left.

Crusaders' forward DeAntwan Randall had back to back post-up layups to extend Madonna's lead to 78-72 with two minutes left. Randall finished the game with a 28-point, 19-rebound double-double.

Still down six with a minute left, Stephen Coleman Jr. got fouled on a fast break and calmly knocked down both free throws.

Lourdes was down 82-76 with half a minute left when Derek Fairley was fouled attempting a three-pointer. He almost made the shot but it rattled in and out of the rim. Fairley made all three free throws, but it wasn't enough, as Joey Liedel made both of his free throws on the other end of the court to seal the five-point win for Madonna

Stats
The teams shot remarkably similar percentages in the game. Madonna shot 0.1% better from the field, 11.2% better from beyond the arc, and 1.1% better from the free throw line. The teams were tied in the turnover battle, but Lourdes had five more fouls than Madonna in the contest.

Coach DuPree's Postgame Comments
"It was a tough one tonight," Coach Dupree said postgame. "I'm proud of the way our guys battled. We were right there in a back-and-forth slugfest. I'm so proud of this team and what we were able to accomplish. I know many people thought we were going to have a down year with how young of a team we were, but we proved a lot of people wrong, and proved ourselves right. We have a special group and we would've done even more special things in the years to come. That is the toughest part right now, knowing what could have been with these guys. Myself and Coach Lauf couldn't be more proud of them. I thank the seniors and everyone else on this team for their loyalty, effort, and dedication to this program. Lourdes may be gone in a few months, but these guys will never be forgotten."