LIVONIA, Mich. – Playing in an environment where they have struggled over the years, the No. 2 Cornerstone men's basketball team used balance on offense and a stingy defense to post a 74-67 win at Madonna University. The Golden Eagles got 24 points from
Kyle Steigenga and 21 rebounds from
Sam Vander Sluis to post their 12
th straight win as they improve to 12-2 overall and 6-0 in the WHAC. CU will have until next Saturday off when they resume action at Lawrence Tech in a 3 p.m. tip from Southfield.
Game Flow
Madonna, who came into the game averaging over 91 points per game and is a program that has given the Golden Eagles fits over the years inside the Activities Center, raced out to an early lead of 21-12 as they used an 11-1 run that covered just over 90 seconds of play. CU then buckled down on defense and limited the Crusaders to just 12 points for the final 10:56 of the half while slowly chipping away at the lead and they would go into the break leading 36-33.
Christian Rodriguez opened the second half with a long triple which was followed by a stop and then layup from
Michael Bradshaw that upped the lead to eight at 41-33. After MU dwindled the lead down to just three again at 43-40, Cornerstone used a small 7-0 spurt, finished by a layup from Vander Sluis, to open a double-digit lead. That margin grew to as many as 13 before a late push by the Crusaders made the final score of 74-67.
Say What?
"This is never an easy place to play and Madonna has a nice team. We struggled early but our defense came up with some big stops in the second half." – Head Coach
Kim Elders
By the Numbers
21 – Rebounds for
Sam Vander Sluis – just two off the school record held by Kevin Krass (12/6/1975)
24/9/5 – Points, rebounds and assists for
Kyle Steigenga
17/10/10/10 – Points for
Michael Bradshaw, Vander Sluis,
Christian Rodriguez and
Riley Costen
39.4 – CU won despite connecting on just 26/66 from the field
24 – Cornerstone held Madonna 24 points below their season average of 91.2 points per game
Up Next
Cornerstone will have next week off before resuming play on December 16 in a road contest at Lawrence Tech. Tip from Southfield is set for 3 p.m.
Men's Basketball Contact:
Aaron Sagraves
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