CHICAGO, Ill- The Great Lakes Christian College Men's Basketball team took traveled on the road for their final regular season game of the season. Moody Archers game into the game with their two leading scorers back from injury which provided the Archers strong ball handling and scoring. Early in the game the Crusaders pressure was working well against Moody Bible, but the shots were not going down for GLCC. The Crusaders forced 15 first half turnovers on the Archers but that was offset by mental errors and a mere 3/10 from the free throw line. Isiah Reed carried the Crusaders in the first half with 13 of his 23 coming in the first frame. GLCC would carry a narrow 41-40 lead into the half.
In the second half it continued to be a battle between the two teams. Moody Bible caught fire from three hitting 9 long balls in the second half. The Crusaders needed a spark, and DonTre' Garrett was that spark. He scored a career high 19 points on 8/11 from the floor. GLCC built the lead as large as 7 but Moody would answer with a three. Lance Adams hit the big shot with a minute to go to keep the game out of reach. The Crusaders would go on to win 83-80. The win puts Men's Basketball team finishes the regular season with a program record 18-10 including 10-1 in NCCAA play.
Inside the Box Score:
- Crusaders forced 21 turnovers compared to only committing 7 of their own
- The Archers shot a hot 14/30 compared to the Crusaders 10/30
- Crusaders shot only 11/22 from the free throw line compared to the Archers 12/14
- GLCC grabbed 17 offensive rebounds while only allowing 10 offensive rebounds
What Coach Says:
"We will take any win we can get. Part of becoming a good team is finding ways to win even when you aren't playing particularly well. Today we were able to do that. Moody getting back their two leading scorers helped them a ton. They combined for 47 of their 80, but no excuses we need to do a better job guarding the basketball. I am looking forward to the next three days of practice because we will really be able to get better as we head into regionals." On the team's regular season, "I am really proud of my team. I am not sure a lot of people had us being in this position but we said since this summer we were going to put ourselves in the position to play meaningful games late in the year. This group has worked hard, they love each other, and they have fun. I could not be more excited for us to continue this journey with them." On post season mentality, "I mean it is simple, it is a one game season here on out. We want to just earn another game in our season."
What's Next:
Men's Basketball will head down to Knoxville, TN to for Mideast Regional Tournament on February 20th. Crusaders earned first round bye as the two seed overall in the regional.