Men's Basketball Stopped by No.22 Pioneers in Close Contest

Lamoni, Iowa. – The Graceland University Men's Basketball team wer taken down by the No. 22 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) University Pioneers, 75-84. They move to 6-5 on the season and are 2-4 in the Heart.

Graceland (6-5, 2-4) | MidAmerica (9-2, 4-1)
Half 1: Graceland 37 | MidAmerica 45
The Pioneers were quick to take the lead over the Yellowjackets (9-2). The Yellowjackets were able to close the gap to four-points midway through the half from the dunk by Seth Compas and a three-point Sam'i Roe (10-14). The Pioneers would collect eight points in just over two minutes of play. The Yellowjackets would sink 8-points back to back to close their deficit to five-point (25-30). The half's scoring would end with a jumper by Trenton Daughtry to close the gap to eight points heading into the half (36-45).

Half 2: Graceland 38 | MidAmerica 39
The Yellowjackets came out on fire, putting up six points. Both teams would go point for point. Graceland would start their scoring run to tie from the layup by Aleksa Markovic (52-57), and a jumper by C.J. Wilson would tie (57-57). The Pioneers would match the six-point collection (57-63) with 8:35 on the clock. Graceland's Markovic would even the score from a layup, and the free throw would give them the lead (71-70) with just under four minutes remaining in the second half. MidAmerica would retaliate by sinking seven points and keeptheir advantage for the remainder of the game (75-84).

Key Moment
The Pioneers had a shooting percentage above 50-percent. Shooting a 56.5-percent in field goals (13-23), a 62.5-percent in three-points (5-8) and 100-percent in free throws (8-8).

By the Numbers:
44.6-53.6 – Graceland's field goal percentage compared to MidAmerica's
10-15 – The Pioneers had five more turnovers than the Yellowjackets
20-20 – Both teams bench sank 20-points
29-27 – MidAmerica had three more rebounds than Graceland

Graceland Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Aleksa Markovic – 23
Rebounding Leader: Aleksa Markovic – 6
Assist Leader: C.J. Wilson / Sam'i Roe – 5
Steal Leader: C.J. Wilson – 4

MidAmerica Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Mekhi Elmore – 17
Rebounding Leader: Caleb Jones-McCrary – 12
Assist Leader: Anthony Brown – 8
Steal Leader: Four Player – 1

Up Next:
The Men's Basketball team will be back on the courts Wednesday, December 14 when they take on the William Penn University (Iowa) Statesmen. Tip-of is set for 7:30 pm.

-Yellowjackets-