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Danville, IL -- GRCC's Raiders advance in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament's consolation bracket following a narrow 82-79 win over Bismarck State's Mystics.

No one Raider seemed to lack a contribution in the game.  Five players finished the contest with double digit scoring with each member of the team taking on a vital role.

Alex Lyle, who was held scoreless against South Mountain, walked on the court ready to play.  In the final moments of the game and 12.5 seconds on the clock, Lyle hit a fade away jumper on an inbound pass from Jackson, to put the Raiders up by three.  Lyle finished with 15 points and two rebounds. 

GRCC's Roy Jackson, Jr. brought a tremendous engergy to the Raiders in the second half.  Combined with his tough defense, Jackson, Jr. contributed 14 points, 8 rebounds and three assists.

T.J. McCutcheon and Jimmy Carroll, Jr. led the Raider's offense beautifully.  Carroll, Jr. knocked down two game sealing free throws in the bonus to give the Raiders a 5 point lead with 6 seconds to go in the game after the Mystics missed a 3 pointer on the other end.  Carroll, Jr. also stole Bismarck's inbounds pass with 1:33 remaining and the Raiders trailing by 1, which led to a Jackson, Jr.  put back layup to give his team the lead for good.  McCutcheon landed two threes in the first half and finished the contest with 12.

Arik Hesselink's post play delivered 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. After getting into foul trouble early in the game, Hesselink battled, forcing Bismarck's big man, Garet Tucker, to focus all his effort on one man freeing up the lane for the rest of the squad.

Despite an impressive first round against South Mountain, GRCC's Jared Mysliwiec couldn't get in rhythm going 2-for-9 and finishing with 5 points.

Said coach Matt Burton, "Team defense led to this win.  If we didn't step up in that area, Bismarck would have ran us off the floor.  Despite starting slow in the first half, but got it going in the second half.  We shot the ball a little better today than yesterday, and everyone rallied for the win.  The first game shell-shock is over.  Today's win is a momentum changer, and we're going to take it in with us tomorrow."

GRCC's win pairs the Raiders with Danville Area Community College's Jaguars tomorrow at 1:00 PM.  Danville is 1-1 in this year's tournament following a first round loss to Mott and a win today over Iowa Central Community College.

The game will be streamed live on NJCAA TV.