Victory Sports Network - Basketball

Madonna Gets Past No. 13 Davenport, 51-44

Posted by Jason Dannelly - Sun, Feb 7, 2010 - [MBB DII] - Viewed 211 times

LIVONIA, Mich. -- The Madonna University (Mich.) men's basketball team came into Saturday's (Feb. 6) game looking to put a signature win on its schedule and the Crusaders did just that, knocking off No. 13-ranked Davenport (Mich.), 51-44 in front of a raucous Activities Center crowd. Junior guard Bryant Slaughter (Westland, Mich.) led the all players with 17 points while freshman guard Kevin Henry (Toledo, Ohio) added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Senior forward Leroy Allen (Detroit, Mich.) added eight points and 11 rebounds for the victorious Crusaders. David Thompson led DU with 14 points.

The game itself was a sloppy one with a combined 32 turnovers while the two sides combined to shoot just 26 percent (31-for-117) from the floor. Davenport was held 33 points under its season average of 77.8 points a game.

The first half was low scoring as MU took its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes on a Slaughter free throw that made it 14-5 with 8:18 left. DU made a mini-run to get back with in two at 16-14 with 3:01 left on a Thompson score but Slaughter nailed one of his three triples on the day to put the home side back up five (19-14) with 2:30 to go.

The two sides traded buckets before a Thompson three with 1:20 left made it a 21-19 game heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break Madonna's shooting went cold like the midwinter weather outside as the Crusaders were unable to register their first points of the half on a pair of Henry free throws with 11:31 remaining on the clock. Henry's charity tosses ended a 16-0 DU run that spanned over 11 minutes.

Henry converted another pair of free throws to start a 20-8 run that took the Crusaders from down 32-21 with 11:31 left to up 41-40 with 6:28 to go. Triples from sophomore Mitch Cieslak (Brighton, Mich.) along with back-to-back long guns from Slaughter to put MU on top highlighted the run that saw the Crusaders nearly equal their scoring total from the entire first half in just over five minutes of the second.

The Slaughter score put MU on top for good as the Crusaders held on for the 51-44 upset, closing the final 8:29 of the game on a 30-14 run.

The Crusaders return to the court on Wednesday night (Feb. 10) when they travel to Fort Wayne to take on Indiana Tech. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm.