MBB Upset on the Road Falls just Short against SVSU

SAGINAW, Mich. - The Great Lakes Christian College Men's Basketball team traveled up to Saginaw to take on the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State. This would be Crusaders second NCAA DII matchup of the regular season. The Crusaders would start slow as SVSU would jump out to an 18-8 lead before Kylan Shipp and Trae Ruggles led the charge with a 16-0 run that spanned 3 minutes of game clock to take the lead from the Cardinals. The Crusaders would not yield the lead in the first half after that taking a 47-45 lead into the break. Kylan Shipp scored 22 in the first half for the Crusaders.

In the second half the Cardinals jumped back on top, 54-51 after an Ethan Hill dunked in transition, and a layup pushed the advantage to five with 17:41 left to play. The Crusaders rallied to snag a 62-60 lead as the score moved back and forth to a deadlock at 74 with 8:28 left on the clock. The game featured 17 lead changes and 11 ties in the back and forth affair. The Crusaders would end up seeing their upset slip away late as the Cardinals would escape with 91-86 victory. Kylan Shipp finished the game leading all scorers with 31 points on 12/24 shooting to go with 6 steals 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Trae Ruggles had a career high 22 points on 9/13 shooting including 4/7 from three. 

Inside the Box Score:

• Whitney Harris contributed another double double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Harris is currently top 10 in the NCCAA in rebounding.
• The FT line was big difference in the game as SVSU went 17/29 from the line compared to GLCC going just 3/7 from the line
• GLCC outrebounded the Cardinals 35-31 including grabbing 16 offensive rebounds.
• The Crusaders forced the Cardinals into 20 turnovers and swiping 14 steals from SVSU

What Coach Says:

"I am immensely proud of our program and guys tonight. They really battled and showed the belong on this stage. It was unfortunate we could not get the result we wanted, but we put ourselves in a position to win the game. Kylan Shipp and Trae Ruggles were the two best players on the floor tonight. Kylan has been playing at such a high level all year, he is the best guard in the country, and for Trae I am thrilled for him. He is finally healthy and showing the country how special he is. What I challenged our guys with after tonight is consistency. We need to expect this level of effort, energy and execution everyday from each other, if we can do that this team will be in a great position come the end of the season."