Men's Basketball Lose Early Lead to Blue Devils

SOUTHFIELD, Mich- Men's Basketball made the short trip up to Southfield, Michigan to take on Lawrence Tech University Saturday afternoon. The two teams matched up for the first game of the season in October and the Blue Devils would win the first matchup 76-69. In the second match up the Crusader came in focused to try and even the score. The two teams would trade baskets early as Ty Searles would carry the LTU attack and Isiah Reed would carry the Crusaders attack. The Crusaders would use a 14-2 run over four minute stretch midway through the first half to take a 32-23 lead over the Blue Devils. GLCC used their press to create turnovers and easy baskets on offense. The Blue Devils would fight back though and close the half on a 15-5 run of their own to take a 38-37 lead. Isiah Reed scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half. 

In the second half the Blue Devils started out fast with a 21-7 run and made the Crusaders pay for late rotations on the defensive end. Basit Seidu paced the attack on offense for GLCC in the second half scoring 14 of his 20 points in the second half. The Crusaders were able to cut the lead to 10 with three minutes to go, but were not able to get any closer. Ty Searles would score 36 points in the 89-74 victory for the Blue Devils. Basit Seidu had the best game in a Crusader uniform with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Inside the Box Score:

• GLCC forced LTU into 19 turnovers, and only committed 9 turnovers.
• Crusaders outshot the Blue Devils 75-55; but the Blue Devils shot 58 percent from the floor compared to the Crusaders 38.7 percent
• GLCC shot only 6/31 from three on the game.
• LTU would win the rebound battle over GLCC 41-34

What Coach Says:

"We have to be better, plain and simple. We were able to build a nine point lead today because of we executed our gameplan and played our style. We have to do a better job at protecting the lead. We let LTU get back into the game because we fouled them and put them in the bonus. We need to do a better job focusing on the details and executing our game plan, but credit to LTU for making things difficult for us. We showed moments in this game, but we have to play a full forty to win a game." On Basit Seidu, "Basit was special tonight. He showed great patience today in the post and was aggressive. This is what we expect from B game in game out. He is a special player." On Amir Huston Jr., "AJ was a great spark tonight. He has been working hard in practice and made the most of his opportunity tonight. AJ has been practicing hard all year, and been working hard. We will need more of his energy moving forward. I was proud of the way he stepped up today."

What's Next:

Crusaders are back in action Monday, January 28th to take on Southern State at 6:00pm in Hillsboro, Ohio.