The Muskies got off to a slow start against the Crusaders, and at halftime, led by just seven points, 36-29.
"Once the conference tournament starts, it's a whole different season" said senior Germayne James. "We are going to get everyone's best shot. "It was important for all the guys to come out and step up and bring some energy. We didn't have that in the first half. We had to regroup in the second half, get back to our roots of playing defense."
Senior Germayne James led the Muskies with 22 points and eight rebounds, with 14 points coming in the first half.
"I thought Germayne was ready to play" said coach Grzesk. "He had a good game on both ends. He set the tone by attacking on offense and making good decisions. Defensively he pressured the ball and had one of his better games."
In the second half, the Muskies would go on a 20-9 run to build a 20 point lead, 63-43 with six minutes remaining and would not look back.
"We struggled in the first half and didn't play defense very well" said sophomore Danny Ehnert. "In the second half we picked it up a little bit and did what we had to do to get it done."
Ehnert and freshman Matt Rogers also scored in double figures for the Muskies, pouring in 12 and 10 respectively. Both players also grabbed six rebounds.
The Muskies now await the winner of Sunday afternoon's quarterfinal game between #4 seed Edgewood and #5 seed Dominican. The Muskies swept the regular season match-ups with both teams.
"We will wait till we see the results tomorrow" said Grzesk. "The thing about tournament time is that any team that wins their quarterfinal game is good teams playing well at this time of the year."