Men's Basketball Blows It Open After the Half; Cruises to Victory

(Wyoming, MI)-- After a close, back and forth first half, the Cleary Cougar men's basketball team picked up the intensity to earn a dominant victory over the Grace Christian University Tigers.

After an Isaiah Bailey bucket opened the scoring, GCU would tie the game two possessions later.  Jacob Mueller would give the Cougars the lead once again after connecting on a difficult jumper.  The lead would grow to four after Nick Ellis scored.  The Tigers would hit a three to narrow the gap, but Jacob Mueller scored, followed by a second-chance three pointer from Bennie Crenshaw Jr. to give the Cougars an 11-5 lead.  Grace Christian would storm back to take the lead at 12-11, and for the rest of the half, each team would fight to take control of the game.  Grace Christian would build their largest lead of the game at 14-11.  Late in the half and tied 26-26, Cleary would score four unanswered points, thanks to baskets by Brian Everhart and Trevor Viau, to make it a 30-26 game.  The Tigers would score with 0:20 to play, and the two teams would go into the break with Cleary leading 30-28.

After GCU and Cleary battled to a 36-34 score with the Cougars in front, Cleary would go on a 21-2 run to take a commanding 57-36 lead.  An Amare Slaughter layup with 5:47 to play would give the Cougars a 67-42 lead.  After a small Tiger run, Cleary would regain their twenty-five point advantage, and Amare Slaughter would extend the Cleary lead with a pair of free throws.  Another Cougar defensive stop allowed Cleary to add to their lead, as Amare Slaugher scored again, and Dominic Phifer connected from behind the arc to make it an 82-50 final score.

Cleary had amazing balance, with all thirteen players scoring, and just two players reaching double-digits.  Brian Everhart would score 10 points to go with 3 steals and 2 assists.  Amare Slaughter also scored 10 points, with 7 rebounds.

The 32-point victory is the largest margin of victory in program history.

The win is Cleary's third in a row, and gives the team a 4-6 record overall.  The Cougars will return to WHAC play on Saturday, December 13, when they host the Siena Heights Saints at Gannon Gymnasium in Lansing.  The game is set to begin at 3:00 PM.