PORTSMOUTH, Ohio- Men's Basketball traveled on the road to take on Shawnee State an NAIA DI out of the Mid South Conference. Shawnee State entered the game 10-3 and receiving votes in NAIA I poll. The Crusaders came out fast jumping out to 18-9 lead on the Bears from a pair of threes by Isiah Reed and a strong drive from Trent Temple. The Crusaders held their lead for majority of the first half despite 13 first half turnovers. The Shawnee State 1-3-1 zone gave the Crusaders fits causing multiple turnovers out of the defense. The Bears were able to take a 2 point lead at the break with a buzzer beater layup. 

In the second half the Bears defense really clamped down on GLCC forcing first six possessions of the Crusaders into bad shots which allowed the Bears to play in transition. The Crusaders kept fighting and battling against the much bigger Bears squad. It wasn't until final five minutes where the Bears lead ballooned to 23 points. GLCC continued to fight back ultimately losing by a final score of 87-67. The loss puts Crusaders at 6-5 at the break ranked #1 in NCCAA. This is the second best start in program history behind last year's 8-5 start. Jahmal Eggleston led Crusaders in scoring with 20 points while chipping in 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Isiah Reed scored 18 on 5/11 from the field while grabbing four rebounds and four steals.

Inside the Box Score:

• Crusaders committed 20 turnovers while forcing 19.
• GLCC had just 9 assists compared to the Bears 16
• GLCC held Shawnee State to just 2/14 from three compared to 6/17 from three for the Crusaders
• Trent Temple logged his first double double in the Crusader blue scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

What Coach Says:

"I thought our effort and energy was there. Winning on the road is very hard, so when execution is not there it makes it even tougher. We lacked a high level of execution today. The first 13 minutes of the game I thought we did a great job executing offensively, but then we started to get sloppy and that gave them too much confidence getting run outs and dunks. I thought we did a great job guarding in the half court today especially in the first half. In the second half we had some lapses that they made us pay for. Ultimately I thought our guys really competed hard today but our details have to be better. Our guys never stopped fighting which I loved. Shawnee State is one of the best defensive teams in the country, a game like this will really help us as we continue to build for March." On first semester and break upcoming, "I think this semester has been up and down for us. We have played a very tough schedule, there are definitely some games we feel like we should have gotten that we didn't but we started to figure some stuff out with this group. I am excited to see how we respond out of the break. I believe we are ready to recharge the batteries and hit the second semester hard." On team injuries, "This first semester we have been banged up quite a bit. I think everyone on our team has been dinged with something. We haven't been healthy all year. This break will really allow us to get healthy for the second semester."