KNOXVILLE, Tenn- The Great Lakes Christian College Men's Basketball program took on the host school Johnson University (TN) in the region championship game. The championship lived up to the billing with 12 lead changes and 8 ties. The Royals came out of the gate early to take a 6-0 lead. The Crusaders were uncharacteristically sloppy early. GLCC settled in though and answered the 6-0 run with a 9-0 run of their own. The Royals home crowd made a tough environment for the Crusaders and Johnson fed off their crowds energy to take a 26-20 lead with 6 minutes to go. GLCC was plagued with foul trouble with five different players with 2 fouls. Despite the foul trouble the Crusaders used their defense to shut down the Royal attack over the last six minutes of the half. The Crusader defense led to 20-6 run to close the half up 40-32.

In the second half the foul trouble continued for the Crusaders with Isiah Reed and Basit Seidu each called for their third and fourth fouls in the first ninety seconds of the second half. The foul trouble forced the Coach Westerlund to go to his bunch. GLCC got big minutes off the bench from Jahmal Eggleston and DonTre' Garrett. Eggleston had 16 points and 9 rebounds off the bench as Garrett chipped in 12 points and 4 rebounds. The Crusaders built their lead to 63-53 with nine minutes to go. Basit Seidu fouled out with 6 minutes to go in the game which was a turning point for the Royals in the game. The Royals answered with a 15-0 run over 4 minute stretch to take a 72-65 lead. The Crusaders were able to execute out of the timeout to cut the deficit to five, but GLCC would not get any closer. The Royals would go on to win the game 84-78.

Inside the Box Score:

• Lance Adams led all scorers with 25 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals
• The Crusaders went 9/29 from three compared to the Royals 4/20
• The Royals won the free throw line going 23/30 from the line while the Crusaders only went 7/12 from the line.
• Foul Trouble: the Crusaders were called for 23 fouls compared to 11 Royal fouls
• Jahmal Eggleston and Lance Adams were each named to the All Tournament Team.

What Coach Says:

"This is tough one to swallow. We were right there, we felt we controlled most of the game, but ultimately they made a few more plays late. I thought we didn't do a great job responding to some tough calls. We have to be better than that. Ultimately we didn't execute well in the last 8 minutes. We took some quick shots and had some key turnovers. I thought defensively we did a phenomenal job. Johnson is one of the toughest teams to guard in the country. We did a great job containing them. I am very proud of our guys and the effort they put out their tonight, and although we didn't get the result we wanted, I am proud of them." On National Tournament, "We feel like we have done enough to earn a bid this year. We are obviously waiting to hear our fate, but we feel good about our resume. I believe we are one of the best teams in the country and we'd love the opportunity to compete for a national title."

What's Next:

The Men's basketball team will await the news on if they will qualify for an at large bid to the NCCAA DII National Tournament in Greenville, SC on the campus of Bob Jones University March 7-9.