Men's Basketball thumps Manhattan Christian in home opener

LANSING, Mich. - Great Lakes Christian College men's basketball's first game in the Doty Center this year couldn't have gone much better as they downed last year's NCCAA DII runner-up Manhattan Christian 86-69 on day one of the inaugural William Westerlund Memorial Classic.

Great Lakes opened up a 16-8 lead early. After MCC put together a 10-0 run to move ahead, GLCC responded with a 9-0 run that gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

Great Lakes increased the lead to 10 at halftime, 40-30, then dominated the second half, opening up a 30-point lead at one point over the visitors to put the game beyond any doubt. Manhattan went on a run after the game was well in hand to trim the final margin to 17.

GLCC's defense carried the day, forcing 28 turnovers and recording 15 steals. Those takeaways gave Great Lakes a huge advantage, as they took 20 more shots than Manhattan (69-49) and made 13 more (34-21).

Trent Temple led GLCC's ten scorers with 19 points on 7/10 shooting. Whitney Harris scored 16 including three deep balls in quick succession that opened up the lead in the second half. Kylan Shipp added 12 off the bench and TQ Belcher led the team in rebounds and steals with nine and three, respectively.

Reigning national Player of the Year Jordan Marshall scored 13 points for Manhattan, tying for the team lead with Dyelan Reed. MCC also made all 20 of their free throw attempts.

Earlier in the day, in game one of the Classic at the Doty Center, Grace Christian defeated Emmaus 85-55. The Classic will continue on Saturday as Grace faces MCC and Great Lakes hosts Emmaus. 40% of the gate proceeds from the tournament will go to a local family caring for someone with cancer.