Men's Basketball hang on for region win vs. Boyce

WYOMING, Mich. - Great Lakes Christian College men's basketball picked up their first Mideast region win, holding on to a late lead to defeat Boyce College 89-86 at the JFB Classic at Grace Christian University.

Boyce jumped out in front first, building a 14-2 lead in the first five minutes. They led by as many as 13, but Great Lakes slowly clawed their way back over the final 10 minutes of the first half and pulled ahead 44-42 by halftime.

The lead changed hands a few times early the second half before GLCC started building a lead. Down by seven halfway through the second half, Boyce went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one and finally regained the lead with 4:53 to play. The teams again traded the lead before a pair of threes by Isiah Reed and Jahmal Eggleston put Great Lakes up five, 87-82, with 3:13 left.

Boyce scored a triple of their own to trim GLCC's lead to on the next possession, but neither team would score again until Brody Mediera hit a free throw for Boyce to make it a one-point game once again with 16 seconds left. Mediera missed the second, Great Lakes rebounded and Kylan Shipp hit both of his free throws to make it 89-86. Bailey Benham had a chance to tie it late with a three-pointer, but missed and GLCC escaped with the win.

Great Lakes made 34 of 76 field goals (44.7%) and 12 of 30 three-pointers (40%) while Boyce shot 28/59 (47.5%) and 9/19 (47.4%) from three. Boyce commited 16 turnovers while GLCC turned the ball over eight times.

TQ Belcher had another big game for Great Lakes, scoring 24 points to lead the team. Reed and Shipp both scored 14 off the bench. Trent Temple scored 12 and led GLCC with eight rebounds.

Benham lead all scorers with 32 points for Boyce. Mediera scored 20 and picked up three blocks while Tyler Nauert tallied 19 points. Kevin Kirby grabbed 12 rebounds.

Great Lakes will play their second game at the Classic on Saturday against Welch College.