Madonna 62, Concordia 59

(Feb. 20, 2010 - Livonia, Mich.) -- A beautiful three-point shot off the hands of Marius Williams with five minutes remaining seemed to have given the Concordia men's basketball team the momentum as they lead by five - after trailing earlier in the game by as many as 15 - with a little more than five minutes remaining. However, the Madonna Crusaders would score 10 of the game's final 12 points and turned that deficit around into a heartbreaking loss for the Cards. Williams finished with a game-high 19 points in the loss.

Madonna came out smoking early as the Crusaders had a 20-5 lead with 8:24 remaining in the first-half. When all seemed lost, Concordia began to slowly chip away at the deficit as a Chad McMullen (So. - Pinckney, Mich.) triple cut it into single-digits at 25-17.

McMullen would finish the game with 13 points, as well as a pair of rebounds.

After Jeremy Simmons (So. - Detroit, Mich.) sank one of two free throws, McMullen struck again and the score was 25-21 with less than three minutes to play in the half. A basket by Madonna put them up six, but Kyle Barlow (Sr. - Howell, Mich.) cut it in half with a three himself. Again, Madonna scored but again Concordia answered with a make from downtown, this time from Williams.

Simmons had a game-high 10 rebounds, with three points while recording single digits in assists, steals and blocks. Barlow had seven points with a pair of assists.

After a Kevin Henry free throw, Concordia closed the scoring with a interior make by Rocko Holmes (So. - Cadillac, Mich.) and the Cards went to the locker room down a point at 30-29.

Holmes just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. He added an assists and a block as well.

The two teams would spend the vast majority of the second half duking it out as neither team could establish enough of a flow to build an insurmountable lead. Williams gave Concordia the largest second-half cushion with his three-pointer making it 57-52, but an eight-point run by the Crusaders put them back up 60-57.

Holmes converted a bucket in the paint and the lead was cut to one at 60-59, but Leroy Allen made two free throws with a minute remaining and Concordia would finish 0-of-2 on their two attempts down the stretch falling short.

With the loss, Concordia drops to 12-18 overall and 5-9 in the WHAC. The Cardinals finish fifth and will start the playoffs next Wednesday on the road at Siena Heights University. The Saints and Cardinals split the regular-season series with both teams winning on their home court.