Men's Basketball Wins Programs first ever Regional Title
LANSING, Mich- The Great Lakes Christian College Men's Basketball team made history Saturday winning the program's first regional title. The Crusaders were led by Regional Player of the Year Kyaln Shipp who averaged 24.3 ppg on 67 percent from the floor. He also added 4.3 rpg and 3.3 apg on his week. The Crusaders were seeded third going into the tournament and understood they had to win to earn their bid to the National tournament in Joplin, Missouri.
Crusaders would take on Boyce College in the quarterfinal winning 90-81. GLCC built their lead as large as 22 against the Bulldogs. Boyce never went away as they fought to cut the Crusader deficit to 7 with 2 minutes to play, but GLCC weathered the storm and advanced to the semifinal where they would take on CU Harrodsburg. The Crusaders had been swept in the season series to CUH, and it looked very bleak for the Crusaders in the first half, as GLCC would go down as much as 17 points, but this time it was different the Crusaders fought back and began chipping away at the Pioneers lead, and took one point lead with 30 seconds to go, on the next trip Harrodsburg would get fouled and split the free throws which set up the signature moment for the Crusaders championship run. Kylan Shipp isolated his man at the top of the key and crossed over going back to hit right hand for 16 foot pull up and drained it with 2.5 seconds to go to win it for GLCC. The fans rushed the floor in excitement as the buzzer sounded.
The third and final game of the Crusaders run they took on Simmons College of Kentucky, who defeated the Crusaders in Lansing 75-70. GLCC came out the gate early and took control of the game building a lead as large as 14 points in the first half. The second half the Crusaders kept the pressure on the Falcons as the stifling zone defense frustrated the Falcons and great offensive execution continued to build the lead for the Crusaders. Trae Ruggles left handed put back slam put the exclamation point on the Championship game as that put the Crusaders up 20 with three minutes to go. The Falcons continued to fight as they cut the Crusader lead to 11 before the final buzzer sounded.
With the win it gives Coach Richard Westerlund his first regional championship. The Crusaders had been to the regional championship four out of five seasons. GLCC advances to Joplin as they await their seeding and opponent for the Elite 8. More information can be found here for NCCAA DII National Tournament: https://thenccaa.org/tournaments/?id=3732&path=mbball2