Findlay, Ohio - The University of Findlay men's basketball team was tested on Monday, Dec. 11 in Croy Gymnasium, but gutted out a 90-78 victory against a scrappy squad from Great Lakes Christian College, which is a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II member. The win gives the Oilers a 3-5 record on the season while the Crusaders fall to 3-8.

As was expected, the Oilers quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead and later would lead 18-7 less than five minutes into play. 

With seven-and-a-half minutes to play in the first half, Findlay led 32-20 and was handling business, but a 14-2 run over the next three minutes tied the game at 34-34. Over that stretch, GLCC hit 6-of-7 shots from the field while Findlay, which shoots better than 48% from the field so far this season, made just 1-of-5. The Oilers would ultimately take a 42-40 lead into halftime.

At the half, coach Charlie Ernst said, "With a short turnaround, I wanted to play a lot of guys in the first half. I thought we would gather momentum and then we'd give it back. It was quick shots and bad possessions and then we're guarding a down hill team that has nothing to lose."

Following a first half that was nip and tuck, Findlay struggled to make any headway. Holding a 63-61 lead halfway through the second frame, the Oilers finally created some breathing room thanks to a 16-8 run that put the home team ahead by double digits for the first time since in nearly 23 minutes of game clock.

That separation was enough to seal the win for the Oilers which hit 18-of-35 (51%) in the second half.

In the game, Findlay hit 34-of-70 (48.6%) from the field including just 11-of-33 (33%) from three-point range. The Oilers turned the ball over 15 times for the fourth time this season, but overcame that by forcing 14 turnovers of their own.

Senior Nathan Bruns, who leads the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) in three-point percentage, led the way with 21 points on the night, hitting 8-of-11 shots including 3-of-4 from deep. He also had six rebounds and three assists. With his 21 points, passes Findlay legends Dustin Pfeifer (2003-06) and Taren Sullivan (2015-18) on the all-time scoring list. Bruns now sits in 12th all-time with 1,598 career points.

Coming off the bench, senior Cameron Shaw scored 15 points while freshman Anthony Johnson scored 12, a new season-high. Johnson led the team with seven rebounds Freshman Will Aljancic scored 11 points and had six rebounds while sophomore Mason Brandt scored 11 and had five rebounds.

The Oilers will now take to the skies as they travel to the Sunshine State of Florida for a pair of contests against Division II opponents. The trip begins with a game at Florida Southern College on Dec. 16 and is followed up by a game against Barry University on Dec. 17.