NCCAA Tip-Off Classic hosted at Boyce

Louisville, KY - The NCCAA Tip-Off Classic was hosted by Boyce College this past weekend. Trinty Baptist College, FL; Toccoa Falls Christian College, GA; Grace Christian University, MI and Great Lakes Christian College, MI all traveled to Louisville to play in the classic. Thursday saw Grace Christian v Toccoa Falls and Great Lakes v Trinity Baptist. On Friday the matchups were Grace Christian v Trinity Baptist and Boyce v Toccoa Falls. Saturday Great Lakes took on Toccoa Falls and Boyce took on Trinity Baptist. It was a fun weekend all around for all the teams that attended. There were some great games that were competitive and honoring to the Lord. 

Boyce took on Toccoa Falls in their first home game of the season. The student body came out strong and supported the Bulldogs from the tip. The first few minutes of the game saw Toccoa Fall jump out to an early 5 point lead. But the Bulldogs battled back and were able to knock down some shots and build an 8 point lead late in the half. By halftime Toccoa had cut into that lead as the Bulldogs went into the locker room up 44-39. The second half was a strong battle between both offenses. Early in the second half the Bulldogs built a 9 point lead but that would not hold. Toccoa kept coming at the Bulldogs and were able to hit some shots late. The Bulldogs were down one under a minute and Toccoa had to inbound it from the sideline with only 2 seconds on the shot clock. They were able to hit a desperation 3 that put them up 4 which would be the final scoring margin. The Bulldogs would fall in a tough battle 95-91. There were 18 lead changes and 9 ties as the game was very close the entire way.

The Bulldogs were paced by:

• Tyler Nauert and Brody Madeira dropping in 22 a piece, Bailey Benham getting 16 pts. and Kevin Kirby chipping in 10 pts. 
• Kevin Kirby had a double-double with 10 pts. and 12 Rebounds - 7 Offensive Rebounds
• The team was able to dish out 15 assists to only 6 turnovers - Tyler Nauert and Trey Mollet with 5 each

On Saturday the Bulldogs came back out to take on Trinity Baptist. The Bulldogs came out a little slow and had a hard time getting the offense going early. Trinity jumped out to a 7 point lead early eventually building an 11 point lead with 14 minutes to go in the half. But the Bulldogs wouldn't go away and over the next 15 minutes had created a 21 point change. Boyce went into halftime up 35-25 holding Trinity to only 35% from the field in the first half. In the second half the Bulldogs were able to grow the lead all the way to 17 points with just under 10 minutes to go. But Trinity would not go away as they continued to battle and cut that lead down to single digits late. A few untimely turnovers and missed opportunities gave Trinity a chance. But in the end the Bulldogs hit free throws late and snagged a few rebounds to hold onto a 71-65 victory. 

The Bulldogs were paced by:

• Tyler Nauert dropped in 16 pts., Bailey Benham had 13 pts. and Brody Madeira helped with 12 pts. 
• Kevin Kirby just missed another double-double with 7 pts. and 10 rebounds
• Bailey Benham finished with 6 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the Bulldogs in assists
• Trey Mollet and Kevin Kirby both also dished out 3 assists each
• The Bulldogs were able to convert 20 Trinity turnovers into 23 points