2-0 in Springfield for the first time ever!!!
Women’s Basketball:
Grace University (8-6) vs. Union College (5-12)
Grace 70 Union 55
The previous three years Grace has had to make a last second basket for the win when playing Union College down in Lincoln, NE. At half time this looked to be the case again. Union came out of the gates on fire with Alex Adams hitting 3 out of 4 from behind the arc to help lead all scorers in the first half with 15 points. Union built an 11 point lead 3 times in the first half, but Grace fought back each time and finally fought all the way back to tie the game at 33 apiece at the break. Both teams struggled to convert easy baskets in the first half and only shot around 37%. This would change in the second half. Grace stepped the defensive energy and created many more open shots in the second half which resulted in Grace shooting 44.8% compared to Union’s 24.2% in the second half. Despite the score both teams fought hard the whole game. Grace was lead by Ashleigh Gyalog with 18 points and 8 assists, She had help from Britney Wilson and Channa Hess who both added 12 points apiece, and Erica Stubbendeck with 11. Kirsten Stidham had 10 rebounds, and Katie Loewen had 17 rebounds and 6 blocks of the teams 11 total blocks. The games leading scorer was Alex Adams of Union College with 22 points, she also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Central Region Standings
| Seed | Team | Region Record | Overall Record |
| 1 | #5 CCCB | 3-0 | 10-8 |
| 2 | #13 GU | 1-1 | 7-6 |
| 3 | #14 MCC | 0-3 | 9-9 |
*through 1-24-12
Men’s Basketball
Grace University (7-10) vs. Baptist Bible College (MO) (2-14)
Grace 73 BBC 62
The trip to BBC is always hard. It is a 7 hour drive from Omaha and a tough environment to play in. Since Grace joined the Central Region in 2008-2009 they have only beat BBC @BBC once. This would be the second time. Grace came out on fire on both ends of the courts. Grace shot 52.2% in the first half compared to BBC’s 20.5% which resulted in Grace having a 39-22 lead at the break. It looked like it would be much the same in the second half with Grace jumping out to its largest lead of 18 points 3 times, but then Grace went cold shooting only 36.7% from the floor and 16.7% from the 3 point line in the second half. Thankfully Grace was still able to play solid defense and hold on to win despite a spirited comeback effort by BBC. Grace was lead by Michael Lovercheck would had 17 points, and was helped by Jonathan Louzenhiser with 15 points, Artrell McMillan with 13 points, and Lance Evans with 10 points. The games leading scorer was Dione Greer of BBC with 25 points.
Grace University (8-10) vs. Central Bible College (4-18)
Grace 64 CBC 53
If winning at BBC has been hard for Grace then winning at CBC has been downright impossible. Going into this game the last time Grace had won was in 2008 against Southwestern for the National Title. Grace had never beaten CBC at CBC until this game. Once again Grace set the tone with hard lock down defense. For the first 10-13 minutes it looked like Grace might hold CBC to 10 or less points in the first half, but that was not to be. CBC played Grace even for the last 7-10 minutes, but Grace was able to maintain its 18 points lead. Grace came out the gate on fire again quickly building their lead to 22 points, before CBC began their come back. CBC was held to 26.7% shooting in the first half but found their shot in the 2nd half. They shot 38.7% and kept fighting back the whole game. At one point in the second half they had trimmed Grace’s lead to just 5 points, but Grace responded and extended it back out to 14 points. In the end Grace made the plays they had to down the stretch to maintain their lead to win the game 64-53. Grace shot fairly well for the game with a 46% shooting night; they only shot 29.4% from behind the arc however. Grace was lead by Jonathan loutzenhiser who has 18 points including 4 three pointers in the first half. He had help from Artrell McMillan who had 12 points. CBC was lead by Joey Kreuter with 18 points.
Grace University (9-10) vs. Union College (10-8)
Grace 109 Union 77
Both sides came out firing on the offensive end with Grace shooting 57.9% and Union shooting 44.4% in the first half to have both teams well on their way to scoring 100 points with Grace leading 54-45. The second half was a little different story. Grace found its urgency on the defensive end, but continued to shoot the ball very well shooting 55% in the second half and holding Union to 32 points. Grace was lead by Jonathan loutzenhiser with 25 points and 6 assists, Joe Beasley with 13 points, Lance Evans with 12 points and 12 rebounds, Michael Lovercheck with 12 points, and Levi Entz with 8 points and 17 rebounds. DeVonte tiamfook dished out 8 assists and Artrell McMillan dished out 7 assists. Union was lead by Chavez Morris with 19 points.
Central Region Standings
| Seed | Team | Region Record | Overall Record |
| 1 | #11 MCC | 4-1 | 10-9 |
| 2 | #14 GU | 3-1 | 8-10 |
| 3 | #16 CBC | 2-1 | 4-16 |
| 4 | BBC | 1-2 | 2-11 |
| 5 | CCCB | 0-5 | 5-15 |
*through 1-24-12
Next Week’s Preview:
Women’s Basketball:
Travel to Manhattan, KS to take on #14 Manhattan Christian College (10-9)(21-24 all time) on Friday the 27th for the second match in the MCC/GU rivalry. Grace won the first meeting at home by 17 after a close first half. Playing at Manhattan is still a hurdle that the Lady Royals need to get over however with no Grace women’s basketball team having won there since the 06-07 season and before that not since the 01-02 season. Grace has won 3 of the last 4 meetings with MCC, but the one loss was last year at MCC and the Lady Royals lost by 20. The Lady Royals also play host to Union College (5-12)(24-8 all time) on Thursday Feb. 2nd. Grace just played Union this last week and beat them 77-55 after being tied at half time.
Men’s Basketball:
The #13 Grace Royals head to #11 Manhattan Christian College(11-9)(76-30 all time) on Friday to play for first place in the Central Region. Both teams have one loss in the Central and control their own destinies. Grace lost to Manhattan at home in a heart breaker 73-79. The game had been a 2 point game before Grace started fouling to try and catch up. Grace vs. Manhattan is one of the best rivalries in the NCCAA and there hasn’t been this much riding on the game since they meet for the Midwest Christian College Conference Championship game 4 years ago that last year Grace was in the Conference. Grace also plays host to cross town Rival Nebraska Christian College (3-10)(69-23 all time) on the 30th for the first of two meetings this season. They will also host Union College (10-8)(36-12 all time) on Thursday the 2nd. Grace and Union just meet up in Lincoln, NE this past week with Grace winning 109-77. The week will end with Grace playing host to #16 Central Bible College(4-17)(3-8 all time) after having beat them for the first time ever at their gym in Springfield last weekend.
