St. Bonifacius, Minn. — Crown's senior post Austin VanDerHeyden had a big day against the Martin Luther Knights to stop a three-game skid as they open a five-game homestand on Wednesday evening. VanDerHeyden led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 19 points and 11 boards. Crown opened up the game on the wrong side of a nine-point MLC run, and were down by ten points at halftime. However, a huge second half where they outscored the Knights by 29 points led them to find their first UMAC victory in the past four games. 

"Martin Luther is always a team that's going to bring the fight no matter what," said VanDerHeyden. "We struggled in the first half, but once we started playing as a team in the second half and started focusing in on the defensive end, then our shots started falling, the crowd got behind us, and we were able to get the job done."

All veteran starters were in double figures, with senior Trey Peace close behind VanDerHeyden in scoring with a career-high 18 points and passing for four assists in the game. Junior Josh Volness scored 16 points, making two three-pointers in the game and four field goals inside the arc. Tim Wendel was below his scoring average with only 13 points but contributed in other ways with a season-high seven assists. 

Off the bench, Torry Ledin had eight points and stayed hot around the arc at home with two made threes on four attempts. Sophomore Kole Jusczak scored seven points on a perfect two of two from the field and by making three of his four free-throw attempts. Ontario Chapman made two of his three shots, and rebounded the ball well in his limited time on the court, with six boards in nine minutes. First-year Kevin Kim added four assists as a backup point off the bench. 

With losses by Northland to St. Scholastica and by North Central to Bethany Lutheran, Crown is once again tied for the five seed in the UMAC in the playoffs. While North Central and Northland both have wins over the Storm team, Crown regains control of their destiny with both UMAC opponents coming to play the Storm in St. Bonifacius later this year.