LANSING, Mich- The Great Lakes Christian College Crusaders Men's Basketball team opened their season tonight after many delays. The Crusaders took on Spring Arbor University Cougars. Spring Arbor entered the contest 1-2. The Crusaders jumped out to a hot start taking an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes after that, the Cougars discpline took control and built a 15 point lead with about ten to play in the first half. The Crusaders battled back to cut the lead to 10 at the half. Crusaders were led by Isiah Reed's 23 first half points.
In the second half the Crusaders came out hot again cutting the SAU deficit to as much as 6, but that is as close as the Crusaders could get for much of the half. GLCC just could not get over the hump. The Spring Arbor lead was as much as 9 with four minutes to go. Kevin Wright played great minutes for the Crusaders as a catalyst in the Crusaders pressure system. The Crusaders were able to cut the lead to three when Coach Rich Westerlund called a timeout with 30 second to go. Westerlund called on his hot hand Isiah Reed out of the timeout and Reed delivered with a big three to tie the game. SAU would unfortunately answer with a layup out of a timeout with five seconds remaining to take the lead. Crusaders would turn the ball over on the ensuing possession and Spring Arbor would win 84-81 over the Crusaders.
Inside the Box Score:
- Crusaders would turn the Cougars over 22 times including 15 in the second half compared to just nine for the Crusaders
- SAU would out-rebound the Crusaders 42-23
- Isiah Reed would score a career high 36 points and snag 7 rebounds
- GLCC would shoot 43 percent from the floor on the game while SAU shot 52 percent
What Coach Says:
"I am optimistic, obviously we would have preferred to win the game, but after coming off a long break I thought there were a lot of positives. I think the second half the way we pressured was much better and we got back to playing Crusader basketball. I also thought our guys did a good job staying composed and battling all night. Spring Arbor is a very disciplined team. They are one of the best in the country at cutting to score. We have to do a better job in our off ball defense, but there is plenty to build on." On Isiah Reed, "Isiah played like the big time player we know him to be. He was super human offensively tonight. Was really happy to see him establish himself early and him hunting his shot." On what's next, "We have no time to dwell on this, we have to get ready for the next game tomorrow and get ready to change our best."
What's Next:
Crusaders will travel to Ohio Christian to play tomorrow at 7:00 pm.