Wyoming, MI – Despite holding a comfortable lead for the entire first half, the Grace Christian University Tigers fell to the Spring Arbor University Cougars Monday night, 79-72.

A 16-2 run from the Cougars would flip a 5 point lead for the Tigers at the 17:00 mark to a 9 point deficit with 12:00 remaining.  The Tigers would then claw their way back to within 1 on multiple occasions, but the Cougars made the key shots down the stretch to escape with the win.  The key sequence of events happened with 1:40 to go in the game, when the Tigers had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line and went empty, with the Cougars subsequently knocking down a three-point shot on the next possession.

The Cougars shot 7-11 from the three-point line in the second half of the game, compared to 2-11 from the Tigers.  Junior Austin Jackson led the way for the Tigers with a career-high 28 points on 11-15 shooting.  Senior Bernard Smith pulled down a team-high 9 rebounds to become the 3rd Tiger ever to achieve 1,000 rebounds in a career.

"I thought we played with a lot of energy tonight," commented Grace Head Coach Gary Bailey.  "Just a few little mistakes that we need to clean up and we could've won this game.  I am still encouraged about what I'm seeing from this team."

Grace moves to 5-3 on the season.

The Tigers have a big weekend ahead, as they travel out west to Iowa for the Faith Classic, where they will face the winner of the past three NCCAA DII National Championships, Randall University at 4:00 pm on Friday, and Ozark Christian College at 2:00 pm on Saturday.