Men’s Basketball Takes Down Park

Lamoni, Iowa. - The Graceland University Men's Basketball team took on the Park University Pirates. The Yellowjackets defeated the Pirates, 97-72. Graceland move to 16-4 and are 13-3 in the conference.

Graceland (16-4, 13-3) | Park (8-12, 6-10)
Half 1: Graceland 52 | Park 31
Park would put points on the board first. Aleksa Markovic and Darrius Davis would put up layups to take the lead (4-2). Graceland would take a three-point lead from a Carson Busch layup and free throw; moments later, Markovic would follow with a layup (9-6). The Pirates would close the gap to one point (11-10) and take the lead with a dunk (14-13). The Yellowjackets would push an 8-3 run, baskets from Davis, Amitai Afenjar, and Akeen Woods (21-17). A Park free throw would break the run. Graceland would retaliate and push a 13-2 rally, baskets from Carter Brown (nine points), Woods (two points), and Afenjar (two points). Late in the half, Austin Braun and Brown would put up back-to-back threes to push a 20-point lead (47-27). Markovic would end the half, sinking charity stripes and give the Yellowjackets a 21 lead over the Pirates (52-31)

Half 2: Graceland 45 | Park 41
Graceland would continue their offensive play for an early 8-0 run; baskets from Carson Busch (three-pointer), Aleksa Markovic (three-pointer) and Austin Braun (layup). Amitai Afenjar would sink a three-pointer to give the Yellowjackets their largest lead of 29 points over the Pirates. Graceland would continue to add to their advantage with baskets from Darrius Davis, Afenjar, Braun, Julius Raudonius, and JT Washington. Mario Johnson would drain the final layup for the Yellowjackets to secure their 97-72 victory over the Pirates.

By the numbers:
33-28– The Yellowjackets had 33 field goals and the Pirates sank 28 field goals
11-8 – Graceland had 11 three-pointer and Park had 8
48-19 – The Yellowjackets had 29 more bench points than the Pirates
42-30 – Graceland rebounds compared Park
20-13 – The Yellowjacket made charity stripe compared to the Pirates

Graceland Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Austin Braun – 18
Rebounding Leader: Darrius Davis – 10
Assist Leader: Austin Braun – 6
Steal Leader: Carter Brown – 2

Park Leaders:
Scoring Leader: AJ Watson – 40
Rebounding Leader: AJ Watson – 6
Assist Leader: AJ Watson – 3
Steal Leader: Seven Players – 1

Up Next:
The Yellowjackets will be back on Monday, January 29 when they travel to take on the Benedictine College Ravens. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.

-Yellowjackets-