Turnovers Plague Crusaders

MANHATTAN, Ks- The Great Lakes Christian College Crusaders took part in the Manhattan Christian College Thanksgiving Classic today and took on NCCAA Southwest region team Barclay College. The Crusaders jumped out to a quick 27-17 lead in the first half and looked comfortable but then GLCC would begin to turn the ball over at a high rate which the Bears from Barclay was able to capitlize on. The Bears active hands frustrated the Crusaders in the first half which led to 13 turnovers and 18 points. Despite all the turnovers the Crusaders went into the half with a 46-41 lead.

In the second half the Bears energy and quickness continued to effect the Crusaders. GLCC would hold the lead until the nine minute mark and the Bears never looked back from there. Crusaders would continue to battle in the second half but the Bears continue to feed off points off turnovers forcing the Crusaders into 23 turnovers for 27 points. Trent Temple led all scorers with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Whitney Harris also chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds for the Crusaders. GLCC would go onto lose in 92-81. The loss is the Crusaders first NCCAA out of region loss in the Westerlund era.

Inside the Box Score:

• Crusaders would turn it over 23 times while forcing just 12 turnovers
• Barclay went to the free throw line 29 times making 23 of them compared to just 6-8 for GLCC
• Great Lakes would dish out a season high 19 assists
• Crusaders shot 48% from the field while the Bears shot 40 percent from the floor.

What Coach Says:

"We weren't very good today, and Barclay was much better than us today. I thought they played with great energy start to finish and they won all the 50/50 battles like offensive boards, forcing turnovers, and getting in transition. They did a tremendous job capitalizing on our mistakes. I think we are a much better team than we showed today, but it starts with our ball security. We cannot turn the ball over 23 times and expect to win a basketball game. We have to a better job at containing the basketball. We are getting put in rotation far too easy." On mindset, "We understand we are one of the best teams in the NCCAA, while we did not play like it today, there is a standard we have to play to. We will get everyone's best shot, and we got beat today. We will fix it and be better moving forward."

What's Next:

Men's Basketball will take on Manhattan at 3:30 est in the final game of the MCC classic.