Slow Start Does Men's Basketball In

WINONA LAKE, Ind- The Great Lakes Men's Basketball team was back in action for 2020 Thursday afternoon taking on Grace College. Grace a member of NAIA and NCCAA DI was ranked #10 in NCCAA DI coming into the matchup. GLCC started off slow as the Lancers from Grace College jumped out to a 28-14 lead early. The Crusaders clawed their way back in cutting the lead to as little as five but the Lancers used a later run and capitalizing on the Crusaders mistakes in the half court to go into the half with an 11 point lead.

Out of the break the Crusaders still could not shake off the rust, and Lancers made GLCC pay building the lead as large as 18. After a timeout by Coach Rich Westerlund the Crusaders finally came to life in large part because of Isiah Reed. Reed scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half. Kevin Wright and Jahmal Eggleston also provided a big spark off the bench as the Crusaders cut the lead to five with five minutes to go. The Lancers remained calm and executed well down the stretch to put the Crusaders away 87-68. Reed led all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score:

• Crusaders were outrebounded on the glass 56-38
• GLCC shot uncharacteristically poor from the FT line going only 7/15
• After allowing GC to shoot 48 percent in the first half GLCC held the Lancers to just 37 percent shooting in the second half
• Trent Temple was the only other Crusader in double figures with 12 points
• Crusaders forced a season low 11 turnovers with just six steals.

What Coach Says:

"I am disappointed. I don't think we came with the energy we need to today in order to win a ball game. Our press was as bad as I have seen it. We dug ourselves too deep of a hole to climb out of. Grace College did exactly what they were supposed to do. I am proud we continued to compete though, we had our chances but just did not capitalize. We have to be better moving forward." On Isiah Reed, "I thought Zay was in the zone today, especially in second half. We tried to make sure he got those touches too. He is one of the best guards in the country and today was a prime example of that."

What's Next:

Crusaders will take on Holy Family University from Manitowoc, WI, Monday January 6th at 7:00pm.