Box Score

LANSING, Mich. — The Sabercats gave the favorited Great Lakes Christian College Crusaders a real scare last night in Lansing, but ultimately fell 80-67 to finish their season in the NCCAA Midwest Region Semifinal.

Will Schultz led Maranatha with 19 points while Grant Brock recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

OVERVIEW

• Result: #5 Maranatha 67-80 #1 Great Lakes 
• Venue: Doty Center, Great Lakes Christian College
• Location: Lansing, Mich.
• Attendance: -
• Records: MBU (4-22), GLCC (17-7)

STORY 

Besides a James Hawley three-pointer to open the scoring, the Sabercats never had the lead in the first half, but it hardly felt like Great Lakes had control of the game. Whenever the Crusaders tried to pull away, the Sabercats were right on their heels, as the lead stayed in single digits for the entirety of the first half.

Both teams stayed patient with their chances for the most part, as an evenly matched first half finished with both sides shooting at just under 50 percent for the contest. Hawley was leading the way for Maranatha with 8 points while Schultz and Brock had 6 points apiece. For Great Lakes, two players were in double figures. 

At the end of a hard-fought first half, all the pressure was on the hosts, and the Sabercats were dangerously close, trailing just 37-40.

A couple of three-pointers started the second half with a surge for the Sabercats, who had their sights fixed on the Crusaders in the opening exchanges, but as the second half went on, the shots started to miss the mark and Great Lakes built their first double-digit lead of the game around the 10-minute mark.

That turned out to be the story of the second half, as the Sabercats struggled to connect on their chances, shooting just 29 percent from the floor through the final 20 minutes. 

The closest Maranatha would come was one final surge with about 9 minutes left, when a jumper from Schultz cut the lead to 4, but from that point on, the Crusaders pulled away and never looked back, capitalizing on missed shots from MBU to close out a nervy and memorable Midwest Region Semifinal.
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Maranatha Starters: 2- Cox (C), 13- Hawley, 21- Brock, 24- Orsello, 30- Schultz

STATS

• Box Score
• Last time: Great Lakes swept the regular-season series
• Series: Maranatha leads the series 14-8

OPPONENTS

• Great Lakes competes in the NCCAA Midwest Region alongside Maranatha 
• Great Lakes finished the '23-24 season with an 17-11 record
• Great Lakes took fell to Grace Christian in last years NCCAA Midwest Region Championship

NEXT

A full recap of the season will be coming at mbusabercats.com.