ADRIAN, Mich - The Siena Heights men's basketball team suffered an 86-83 loss to Grace Christian in the Saints home opener. DeMarco Dickerson (Senior, Detroit, Mich.) led the Saints in scoring with 25 in the losing effort.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Grace Christian 86, Siena Heights 83
Location: Adrian, Mich. (SHU Fieldhouse)
Records: Grace Christian 2-1, Siena Heights 0-1
HOW IT HAPPENED
The score remained close for the opening seven minutes of play. A 7-0 run by the Saints sparked by a lap up made by Anthony Duncan (Freshman, Kissimmee, Fla.) gave the Saints a 15-9 lead with 12:27 to play in the first half. The Tigers responded with a 5-0 run to cut the Saint lead to one (15-14) before eventually tieing the game at 19 with 18:20 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. Grace Christian would take the lead, 23-22, with 7:22 left and both teams would trade the lead until the end of the half when the Tigers took a 38-35 lead at intermission.
The Saints started the second half with scoring the first four points to take a 39-38 lead with just over a minute played. The score remained close until the 8:06 mark when Chad Elliot (Junior, Berea, Ohio) would hit back to back three's to spark an 8-0 run and a 65-58 lead for the Saints with just over seven minutes left to play. Following a Tiger three-pointer, Keith Jordan Jr. (Senior, Toledo, Ohio) hit a layup that sparked a 6-0 Siena Heights run and the first double-digit lead of the game (71-61) with 6:39 left in regulation. Grace Christian responded with a 5-0 run cut the Saint lead in half with just over six minutes left to play before tieing things up at 79 with 1:39 remaining. A three-point jumper by Adam Kregel gave the Tigers the smallest of margins (82-81) with just over a minute left to play. Kevin Rice (Junior, Detroit, Mich.) would hit two free throws to give SHU an 83-82 lead with 47 seconds left on the clock. Grace Christian would put the game away with a layup and two free throws.
TOP SAINTS
• Dickerson added six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block to his stat line.
• Jordan tallied 14 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.
• Rice was 6-7 from the charity stripe to total 12 points and 14 rebounds for his first double-double in a Saint uniform.
• Kevin Smith II (Senior, Columbus, Ohio) finished with 11 points, two assists, and two steals.
THE OPPOSITION
• Brandon Winchester-Jones led the Tigers with 22 points. He also led the team with a game-high six assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
• Austin Jackson totaled 21 points and eight rebounds.
• Kregel finished with 20 points and was 6-11 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
The Saints travel to Mishawaka (Ind.) to face Bethel on Saturday, November 2nd. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
