John Oostema goes up for two.

The Tigers had to scratch and claw to force an overtime to advance in the NCCAA semi-finals tonight in Springfield, MO.  Grace outscored Dallas Christian University 6-4 in the overtime period to get the win 69-67.  The Tigers will now play in their 3rd consecutive national championship game and will face Valley Forge Christian College (PA) at 4:00pm CST. 

The Tigers came out strong, opening up an 8 point lead before falling behind by as many as 15 points, 13 at the half.  “We were horrible at the offensive end,” said Coach Gary Bailey.  “We didn’t play aggressive enough offensively but fortunately our defense kept us in it until we started to click.”  Allen Durham led the comeback with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals.  John Oostema fueled the outside game connecting on four threes to finish with 14 points.  Matt Kurtz finished with 10.  Cory Jamieson handed out 5 assists.

They Tigers also tied the school record for wins tonight and now stand at 30-7 on the season.

Valley Forge was ranked as the #2 team in the country for most of the season before being upset in their East Regional final.  They received an at-large bid to the tournament.  They currently stand at 29-7 on the season.