BUFFALO, NY - The Villa Maria Vikings improved to 2-0 on the young season after an 86-81 victory over National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics constant, Madonna University on Saturday night in the final game of the 2017 Villa Tip-Off Classic.

Villa was led by junior Dominic Douglas (Bainbridge, GA/Bainbridge High School) who scored a game-high 31 points, helping Villa pick up the wire-to-wire win.  Villa led by as many as 16 in the first half and held off a late Crusader rally to finish the job.  Madonna came into the game winners of its first four games of the 2017-18 season.

Villa led by 14, 43-29 at the half.  Madonna got within four, 65-61 with just over seven minutes left in the game before Villa squashed any chance at a comeback with four straight points, and seven of the next nine.

The matchup between Villa and Madonna was between two of the three Franciscan Universities/Colleges and the first ever matchup between the two schools

BOX SCORE
Villa Maria Vikings (2-0)                      43 - 43 -- 86
Madonna University (4-1)                    29 - 52 -- 81

INSIDE THE BOX
* Villa finished with 15 assists on 27 made baskets
* Junior guard Jay Scarbrough (Niagara Falls, NY/Cayuga Community College) finished with 14 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals
* Freshman Lonnie Taylor (Medina, NY/Medina High School) and sophomore Daniel Thompson (Brooklyn, NY/St. Thomas University) each chipped in 12 points 
* Taylor finished with six rebounds and Thompson finished with five rebounds and three assists
* Douglas finished 15-of-17 from the free throw line and the team was 29-of-38
* Madonna out-scored Villa 48-40 in the paint
* Villa edged out the Crusaders in points off turnovers (16-14)
* Villa forced Madonna into 24 turnovers
* Villa also edged Madonna in points off the bench (21-19)
* Madonna had three players in double-figures
* Madonna out-rebounded Villa 43-38
* Villa improved to 2-0 at home this season and has won 11 straight games inside the Villa Athletic Center

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Don Silveri: "This is an important win for our program.  Madonna is an excellent team and have been for a long time.  They are well coached and they're players play hard.  I thought we defended well in the first half and executed our offense.  We made the necessary adjustments in the second half and were fortunate to come out with the win."

UP NEXT
Villa will hit the road for two games next weekend.  They play at SUNY Delhi on November 10th and against Fisher College on the campus of Delhi, on November 11th.  Both games are against Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference opponents.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS
Follow the Vikings on Twitter (@VillaVikings), Facebook (Facebook.com/villavikings) and Instagram (@villavikings) for all news, stats, scores, stories and more to keep up to date on all things Villa athletics. Go Vikings!