Nov. 7, 2009 | Box Score
Hannibal, MO-Head Coach Jeff Hamilton and his staffs dedication to bringing back the men's basketball team to prominence appears to be paying dividends. The Yellowjackets haven't had a winning record since December 2nd of 2004, until now. The vastly improved Jackets defeated Hannibal LaGrange College on Saturday night in Hannibal, Missouri by a final of 87-75.
Senior Jewel Carter (Kansas City, KS) continued his strong start to the season leading all scorers with 31 points. Graceland had three others in double figures as Tyler Raasch (Bridgewater, IA) had 15, senior forward Mike Johnson (Kansas City, KS) had 14 and junior transfer Jake Smith (Mt. Vernon, IN) had 17 points and 9 rebounds.
"This was a heck of a win for us tonight," stated Coach Hamilton from the locker room following the game. "Our defense continues to get better every night and they put 40 minutes of hard play in again this evening. If it continues to be that good and that improved, we'll compete and be in basketball games all season long. Offensively we got contributions from a lot of guys tonight as well. I'm extremely proud of our guys and this is a great road win for us headed into a big game Tuesday night with McKendree," finished Hamilton.
The win puts the Jackets over the .500 mark at 2-1 and they'll face #5 ranked McKendree University on Tuesday night in Lamoni. Game time is set for 7:00 pm. Stay tuned to the Jacket athletics website for continuing coverage of the men's basketball team and all of Jacket athletics.
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact:
Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director (641) 784-5318 mshelton@graceland.edu
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