CCU Men's Basketball made it to the NCCAA National Championship game by defeating Grace College 79-72 in the semifinal on Thursday afternoon. The Cougs will be playing Ohio Christian University on Saturday, March 18^th at 12:00 PM MST.
 
In the semifinal game vs Grace, Colorado Christian came out strong and earned a 10 point lead at half time. It was tight all the way until about five minutes left in the first when CCU went on a scoring streak. They hit 11 buckets in a row, without missing for close to four minutes straight. It was 21-21 with six minutes on the clock, and then after the blue and gold scoring surge it was 39-27 with two minutes left in the game. CCU went into the locker room up 39-29.
 
Colo. Christian continued to hit their shots in the start of the second half. They were up by 15 points 44-29 when the Lancers lit a spark and hit three threes in a row closing the gap a little 46-38. There was still 17 minutes left in the game, but as the minutes ran down the Cougs looked less in control. Grace chipped away and with 10 minutes left there was only about a six point deficit. Then it was five points, four points, until CCU was only up by one point 70-69 with two-in-a-half minutes left. The Cougs struggled to hit anything inside and from the arc. But in those last two minutes they finished the game by making all their shots and winning 79-72.
 
Dimitri Saliba scored 23 points, Ty McGee 22, and Brett Brady had 17. Grace gave up 17 turnovers compared to Christian's seven, but the cougs rebounded less than the Lancers. CCU went 48% from the field, 35% three, and 76% the line.
 
Colorado Christian Men's Basketball won the NCCAA National Tournament in 2014-2015 and hopes to do the same this year. Stay updated through ccucougars.com or twitter @ccucougars.