WATERTOWN, Wisc- The Great Lakes Christian College Men's Basketball team found themselves in a dog fight Friday night as they took on the Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats. MBU came out in a big way with a massive home crowd to watch their team get their crack at the #1 team in the country. GLCC came into the game 12-10 and 7-0 in NCCAA play on the season with a big matchup against #2 Grace Christian University on Tuesday lingering. The Crusaders jumped out early on the Sabercats building a 9-2 lead and eventually a 24-14 lead over MBU in the first half, but with every basket the home fans would will the Sabercats with their energy, and MBU fed off of it. They would respond with a 28-12 run to close the half to take 42-36 lead at the break. Despite the lead the Crusaders forced nine turnovers and shot just 38 percent from the floor in the first half.

In the second half the Crusaders would battle to get over the hump with the Sabercats. Every time GLCC got to the hump MBU made a big play by hitting a three or breaking the Crusader pressure for a layup. GLCC breakthrough came in the final five minutes of the 2nd half. Jalen Huff and Trent Temple at the top of the press caused big turnover and Isiah Reed hit a big three to give the Crusaders the lead. Elijah Kess hit a three with a minute to go to put the Crusaders up for good. JaQuin Jones hit four big free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the game for the Crusaders.Trent Temple led five Crusaders in double figures with 20 points and 11 rebounds. GLCC would win 90-85 over MBU to improve to 13-10 overall and 8-0 in NCCAA play.

Inside the Box Score:

• GLCC did a great job getting to the line going 21-29 compared to MBU's 5-10
• GLCC tied their season low on assists with just 8 compared to 21 for Maranatha.
• The Crusaders grabbed 13 steals and forced 20 turnovers in the game
• In the second half GLCC shot 47% from the floor 38.5 percent from three and went 17/22 from the free throw line.

What Coach Says:

"This was really good for our team to go through tonight. Maranatha is a very hard place to win at, and they came out energized. Obviously being #1 everyone wants to give you their best shot to knock you off. I did not think we were at our best tonight. I thought we really struggled for much of the game, but hungry dogs find a way. This team found a way to win even when we were not at our best, that is really important for this group as we are preparing for the stretch run. This was our trap game. I know our minds were not in Wisconsin last night, which is on me as the coach I have to prepare our guys better and not allow them to look ahead. We were fortunate to win tonight, but we will take it and get better from this experience." On free throw shooting, "We put pressure on them to guard us, that was important to our offensive attack. We did a great job putting them in tough positions to guard by getting downhill." On matchup vs Grace on Tuesday, "Obviously whenever we play Grace it is always a really good game and a really big game. This is #1 vs #2 and it has playoff seeding implications. I know Grace is going to come out ready to play. We are excited to go into another tough road environment and respond to the challenge. I believe in my group of guys."

What's Next:

The Crusaders will take on #2 Grace Christian University at 7:00 pm Tuesday February 11th. Fans will want to arrive early as it is expected to be a sellout crowd.