Preview: Illinois Lutheran Chargers vs. Grace Christian Academy Crusaders
Illinois Lutheran is 9-1 against Grace Christian Academy since January of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Illinois Lutheran Chargers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Grace Christian Academy Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Illinois Lutheran suffered their biggest defeat yet this season on Wednesday. They had to suffer through a rough 72-40 loss at the hands of Gardner-South Wilmington. Illinois Lutheran was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-21.
Despite the defeat, Illinois Lutheran had strong showings from Jaden Walls, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds, and Tristan Biesterfeld, who scored 15 points along with two steals. Sam Adeniran was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Meanwhile, Grace Christian Academy's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their eighth straight loss. They suffered a tough 80-60 loss at the hands of Unity Christian Academy. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
The match pitted two dominant players against one another in Sam Marquardt and Shamar Coleman. Coleman had a great game and scored 20 points along with seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Marquardt was balling out in the loss, scoring 18 points along with six rebounds.
Grace Christian Academy struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only an offensive rebound. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Unity Christian Academy pulled down nine offensive rebounds.
Illinois Lutheran's defeat was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 3-12. As for Grace Christian Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-13.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's match: Illinois Lutheran have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 34.8% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Grace Christian Academy, though, as they've only drained 26.1% of their threes per game this season. Given Illinois Lutheran's sizeable advantage in that area, Grace Christian Academy will need to find a way to close that gap.
Illinois Lutheran strolled past Grace Christian Academy in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 by a score of 51-32. Will Illinois Lutheran repeat their success, or does Grace Christian Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
