Spring Arbor, MI – The Grace Christian University men's basketball team kicked off their 2020-21 campaign Wednesday evening with a trip to Spring Arbor University to face the 2019 NAIA National Champion Cougars.

With a handful of brand new faces, Head Coach Gary Bailey and his staff anticipated some kinks in getting the team to gel perfectly with one another in their first official competition. From the opening tip, however, the Tigers showed they were ready to compete and give full effort, holding a lead from the start of the game all the way until a pair of Spring Arbor free throws capped off the first half at 41-41.

The kinks would set in for a moment in the second half and a cold streak would result in a run for the Cougars that allowed them to build a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining.  The Tigers would trim things all the way to two points and were within striking distance for the rest of the game, but the Cougars knocked down some big shots to not allow them to recapture the lead, resulting in the 89-83 final favoring Spring Arbor.

Junior Kellum Bridgeforth led the Tigers with 22 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals on the night. Senior Chandler Rivers had 18 points in his debut in the Grace uniform, on an efficient 8-12 shooting from the field. Sophomore Dre Dennis recorded a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

The Tigers return to action this Friday in their home opener against Welch College (TN) at 7:00 pm in their annual John F. Bailey Memorial Classic. They will face Boyce College (KY) at 12:00 pm Saturday to conclude the JFB Classic.