Grace Christian Academy is 2-8 against Illinois Lutheran since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Grace Christian Academy Crusaders' road trip will continue as they head out to face the Illinois Lutheran Chargers at 4:30 p.m. on February 13th. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, Grace Christian Academy had to suffer through a rough 71-39 loss at the hands of Gardner-South Wilmington. Grace Christian Academy was down 56-32 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ethan Reynolds, who scored 14 points. That was a full 35.9% of Grace Christian Academy's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Noah Bisping, who scored seven points along with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Illinois Lutheran's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight defeat. They took a 53-45 hit to the loss column at the hands of Donovan. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Illinois Lutheran in their matchups with Donovan: they've now lost five in a row.
Like Grace Christian Academy, Illinois Lutheran lost despite seeing results from several players. Jaden Walls led the charge by scoring 17 points. Tristan Biesterfeld was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with three steals.
Grace Christian Academy dropped their record down to 5-19 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road. As for Illinois Lutheran, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost eight of their last nine contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-19 record this season.
Tuesday's matchup will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Sam Marquardt and Sam Adeniran. Marquardt has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 16.8 points, 1.4 blocks, and 1.7 steals. For his part, Adeniran has averaged 14.6 points, 1.1 blocks, and 3.5 rebounds.
Grace Christian Academy beat Illinois Lutheran 68-57 in their previous matchup back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Adeniran, who scored 25 points along with two blocks. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Grace Christian Academy still be able to contain Adeniran? There's only one way to find out.
