WINONA LAKE, Ind. - After a historic victory over Olivet Nazarene, the Crusaders moved on to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history. In the Round of 32, the Crusaders found themselves matched up against #4 Grace College (Ind.), a one-seed in the tournament. While the Lancers would knock them out of the tournament with a 72-61 victory, the Crusaders wouldn't go down without a fight. They capped off their historic season with a performance they can be proud of, battling until the final buzzer against the toughest opponent they had faced all year.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a shot-for-shot game in the opening minutes as the Lancers scored first, but Devin Dunn fired right back with a layup. Brendan Young followed it up with a put-back layup of his own as the Crusaders took their first lead of the night. The Lancers would follow right back with a shot to match it, and then go on a five point run. Their run was cut off as Henry Speight slung the rock to Deric Murray who knocked down the open jumper. Murray followed his jump shot with a layup as the Crusaders battled back. Speight followed Murray's lead with a quick shot of his own, and then knocked down a three-pointer to steal the lead back 13-11.  

Murray drove his way to the rim on back-to-back Crusader possessions as they slowly extended their lead. Mettie would finally hear his name called by the announcers after nearly thirteen minutes of play when his first bucket of the night would give Madonna a 23-15 lead. Things seemed to be going the Crusaders' way, but they were far from home free. The Lancers began to crawl back, going on an 8-2 run to nearly reclaim the lead, but the Crusaders weren't giving them anything. Two scores from Matthew MacLellan tacked on four points to their lead, and Young would drop a three-point play on them to follow. However, it seemed as though their luck was beginning to dwindle, as the Lancers would go on a 12-1 run to end the half, sending the Crusaders to the locker room now trailing 39-33.

Despite finding themselves down at halftime after leading for so much of the first half, the Crusaders weren't at all discouraged coming out of the break. They quickly gained ground back, as a Mettie layup made it a two-point game less than a minute into the half. The pressure was on the Lancers to pull ahead, and the Crusaders were fast on their heels. As they tried to, a three-pointer knocked down by Speight put the Crusaders right back in it. Followed up by another strong finish at the rim from Murray, it was a two-point game once again. Just like that, Mettie tied up the game at 50-50 with an effortless jump shot, leaving just under ten minutes to play.

It was a battle of who could win the final ten minutes in a game where neither team was prepared to go down easy. With just under three minutes remaining, Speight put his body on the line for an "and-one" layup that made it a 62-59 game with the Crusaders only trailing by three. Even though the Crusaders left it all on the court, Grace College pulled away in the final minutes, inflating the score as the Crusaders tried to foul their way to a hail mary comeback.

While they did suffer a heartbreaking 72-61 loss in the end, the Crusaders put up an incredible fight that it was clear the Lancers weren't prepared for or expecting. They proved themselves on the biggest stage in NAIA basketball, and capped off their historic run with a WHAC Championship win, an NAIA National Tournament win, and a tooth-and-nail fight to the buzzer against one of the toughest teams in the nation. A fitting end for such a resilient team and a season that Crusader Nation will never forget.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 

• Speight left it all on the court, scoring 17 points and leading the team in his final game as a Crusader.
• Mettie put up 12 points with six rebounds, and added one final block to his record-holding career total.
• Murray also recorded an impressive 12 points and six rebounds.
• Young nearly set another single-game rebounds record with 17, in addition to his seven points.

UP NEXT

The Crusaders will enter the offseason as they begin to regroup and prepare to follow up their historic season with what they hope to be another one next fall.

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