LEAD

LANSING, Mich. -- The Great Lakes Christian College Crusaders hit their first two shots from downtown Thursday and never looked back, dealing the short-handed Sabercats a 96-53 loss inside the Doty Center in NCCAA Midwest Region play.
Brandt Cashner led the Sabercats with nine points while Noah Jensen put up eight points and eight rebounds, as the short-handed Sabercats were missing Will Schultz and Ben Price due to injury. Great Lakes shot 54.1 percent from the floor and an impressive 10-23 from downtown.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 53-96 Great Lakes 
• Venue: Doty Center - Great Lakes Christian College
• Location: Lansing, Mich.
• Records: MBU (3-9), GLCC (9-6)

STORY
Great Lakes - a perennial powerhouse in the NCCAA DII - nailed two opening shots from the three-point line, putting the Sabercats on the back foot and previewing a precise night of shooting to come. Great Lakes took care of their shot selection, shooting over 50 percent from the floor, and their relentless pressure forced 14 turnovers out of the Sabercats in the first half, as the Sabercats wound up with 25 turnovers on the night. 

Going into the locker room, the Sabercats were behind 21-46 and were in search of answers.

The Sabercats improved in the second half, shooting 35 percent from the field and cutting their turnovers down to 11 in the half. But as the Sabercats improved, so did the Crusaders, as the hosts tightened up their shot selection even further. The energy was high, as the Crusaders went deep into their bench on the night, as 14 different men put up points for the hard-working hosts.

After 20 more minutes of Midwest Region play, the hosts had wrapped up the big win to send the Sabercats into the weekend on the wrong side of the win column.
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Maranatha Starters: 2-Cox, 12-Jensen, 21-Moultrie, 33-Mertes, 44-Cashner

STATS

• Box Score
• MBU: shot 32.3 percent from the field
• GLCC: shot 54.1 percent from the field
• Last time: Maranatha fell to 85-90 to Great Lakes on Feb. 7, 2020
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series against Great Lakes 14-5

OPPONENTS

• Great Lakes competes in the NCCAA Midwest Region alongside Maranatha 
• Great Lakes finished the '22-23 season with an 19-16 record
• Great Lakes took fourth in the 2023 NCCAA National Tournament

NEXT

The Sabercats stay in Michigan for another NCCAA Midwest match-up against Grace University tomorrow, Jan. 12 at 7 P.M. EST. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.