Grace traveled 400 miles Friday morning and early afternoon to Louisville, KY for a game against Boyce College Friday night. The Tigers had never played the Bulldogs before and they had limited scouting information to prepare for the game. Missing two starters for this trip and having two others who play significant minutes nursing injuries, the Tigers jumped off to a quick start building a 23-8 lead early. Trying to conserve the stamina of his patchwork starting lineup, Coach Gary Bailey went deep into his bench at that point and played 12 Tigers in the first half. The Tigers held a 35-28 lead at the break.

Sophomore Jake Blauwkamp, who contributed 8 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals off the bench in the first half went down with a knee injury on the first trip down the floor in the second half and was done for the night. “I’m proud of the way our guys stepped up tonight to overcome missing and injured players,” said Coach Bailey. “Our game plan was to execute the ball movement on offense that we worked on all week in practice. The guys did a good job of that tonight.”

The Tigers built the lead to as much as 19 in the second half. Bailey again went to his bench and played every player significant minutes as the Tigers came away with a solid win.

Senior Zach Schutte led the Tigers in scoring with 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field including 3 for 4 on three pointers. Fellow senior Greg Salmon added 21 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He also was 3 for 4  from beyond the arc. Salmon led the Tigers in rebounds with 11. Grace won the battle of the boards over the Bulldogs, 42-32.

The Tigers return to play at home on Tuesday, January 22 for the Cross Cup game against cross town rival Kuyper College at 7 pm.