Eggleston's 28 Not Enough Against #1 Tigers at Little Caesars Arena

DETROIT, Mich- The Great Lakes Christian College Crusader Men's Basketball team took on #1 Grace Christian University Tigers at the Detroit Pistons Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday afternoon in an elite NCCAA DII and Mideast Region matchup. Coming into the game both programs were both unbeaten in NCCAA play. GLCC was scoring 82.8 ppg and GCU was scoring 84.1 while on defense GLCC was holding opponents to 74.5 ppg and GCU 72.8. The game started off quick as both teams knocked in threes, after the early three the Crusaders were sloppy with turnovers, and Grace Christian made them pay as the Tigers built their first half lead to 30-17. The Crusaders went to their high pressure defense and it was able to slow down the Tiger attack. The Crusaders fed off the energy from the press and went on a 20-11 run to close the first half. The Tigers led 41-37 going into the break. Jahmal Eggleston led the Crusasder attack with 14 first half points.

In the second half the game continued to be a back and forth affair for every Grace basket the Crusaders would answer. The Tigers were able to go on a 6-0 run with 14 minutes to go to build their lead to 11 but the Crusaders would answer with a 7-0 run to make the game 57-53 with 11:42 to play. Every time the Crusaders got the momentum the Tigers hit a big three in the second half. The Tigers Caleb Anderson went 6/8 from three to go for a career high 24 points. The Crusaders stayed with #1 team the entire half, and in the final three minutes the score stood 82-78 with the Crusaders down. Isiah Reed had a three go half way down that would have cut the Tiger lead to 1, the Crusaders got another stop and saw Eggleston have a floater rim out which would have cut the Grace lead to two. Grace responded with a big three out of a time out to go up seven with one minute to play, and that was the dagger for GLCC. #1 GCU would go onto win 92-80. Jahmal Eggleston led all scorers with 28 points on 13/23 shooting with 7 rebounds and 5 steals. Isiah Reed chipped in 15 points 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Inside the Box Score:

• GCU went 12/21 from three including 8/10 in the second half compared to the Crusaders 8/25 for the game
• Both teams had their fair share of turnovers: GLCC had 19 and GCU had 20. The Crusaders had 19 points off turnovers compared to the Tigers 21.
• Tigers went 18/26 from the free throw line compared to the Crusaders 10/14
• Crusaders bench outscored the Tigers bench 37-23
• The Tigers outrebounded the Crusaders 45-32, including 15 offensive rebounds

What Coach Says:

"I am proud of my guys effort in the loss. We obviously cannot play as sloppy as we did and expect to knock off the number one team in the country, but we battled. We answered every run Grace had and stayed the course. We talked about how it would come down to one or two possessions and it did, but it just so happens Grace won those one or two possessions. Credit to Grace every time we got the momentum they hit timely shots to keep us at an arms length. I know this group is hungry and will learn from this loss. I am excited to see how they change their best from here." On Jahmal Eggleston's play, " Jahmal has been an energizer bunny for us. Dude is a winner. He can flat out play. He stepped up in a big way. Can't tell you how proud I am of this guy." 

What's Next:

The Crusaders will take on Lawrence Tech University in Southfield, Michigan on January 26th.