PHOTOS

Wyoming, MI - The Grace Christian University men's basketball team celebrated their senior night with a 78-71 win over a very good Andrews University team on Tuesday night in their final home game of the season at the Aldrich Athletic Center.

With the game tied at 71-71 with just over 2:00 remaining in the game, junior Brandon Winchester-Jones knocked down a huge NBA range three-point shot to take the lead.  A basket on the next possession from senior Bernard Smith would give the Tigers a five-point lead.  The Cardinals had a great look at a lay-up to cut it to a one-possession game with under a minute remaining, but Smith turned the shot back with a big-time block to solidify the win.

Smith finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.  Junior Austin Jackson led a balanced Tigers scoring attack with 15 points, followed by seniors Grant Garrison and Caleb Anderson with 14 and 12, respectively.  Garrison also dished out a team-high 5 assists.

"I was really proud of our guys tonight," commented Head Coach Gary Bailey.  "There was a lot of distractions with all of the events that happened tonight with Senior night, the Women's Soccer National Championship celebration, and the 2009 men's basketball 10 year reunion.  And, our players were a part of all of it and still came out and played well against a top ten team in the USCAA.  Andrews getting their big man, Jeremiah Irby, back from injury really helps their inside game.  At 6'9", he takes up a lot of room on their zone.  Our team was focused tonight only committing 8 turnovers and hitting all 12 of our free throws.  Now we have to get back to work and get ready for Andrews again at their place on Thursday night."
 
Grace moves to 18-11, and they will face Andrews once again on Thursday night in Berrien Springs, MI to close out their regular season.