Box Score

Port Huron, MI. – The Grand Rapids Community College Men's Basketball team survived a late scare to beat the #1 seeded Muskegon Community College Jayhawks, 78-74, in the NJCAA District 9 semifinal game on Thursday (3/9) night. GRCC has advanced to Saturday's District 9 final against #3 seed, Ancilla College. Ancilla enters Saturday's final match-up with the Raiders after an upset of #2 seeded Lansing CC, 88-71.

The Raiders trailed after the first half, 34-26. But, would use tough defense and an explosive offence to outscore the Jayhawks 52-40 in the second. Despite their second half fireworks, the game came down to the very last play.

Leading 76-70 with 15.4 seconds remaining in the game, the Raiders turned the ball over twice while trying to inbound the basketball. Muskegon took advantage, scoring a quick layup with 12.1 seconds left, cutting the Raiders lead to 76-72. After GRCC's second turnover, Muskegon was fouled while attempting a three-point shot. Muskegon would sink the first two free-throws, but miss the third. After the ball recachaed off of a Muskegon player, Corey Jones secured the rebound and hit Jeffrey Drake-Todd with a long outlet pass. After being fouled with 0.01 remaining, Drake-Todd sunk both free-throws, his 30^th and 31^st point of the night, sending GRCC to its second NJCAA District 9 finals appearance in three years.   

Jeffrey Drake-Todd led the way for the Raiders, scoring a game high 31 points, shouldering most of the offensive production. Point guard, Arthur Pearson, orchestrated the offense all night, scoring 13 points of his own and dishing out seven assists. Zachary Pangborn and Maxwell Prendergast both dropped 11 points each, while Corey Jones scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting.

The NJCAA District 9 Final is scheduled to tip at 3PM on Saturday, March 11^th in Port Huron. The game will be live streamed on the GRCC athletics official Twitter page. Follow us on twitter @grccathletics.
For more information on the tournament, visit the official website for the NJCAA District 9 Tournament here: http://sc4athletics.org/