MEN’S BASKETBALL TAKES DOWN NO. 23 GRACELAND

LAMONI, Iowa – In the biggest win of the Tyler Bredehoeft era, Avila men's basketball took down No. 23 Graceland on Friday night, 83-80 to move to 4-0 on the season. It is Avila's first win over a ranked opponent since 2020.

The Eagles used 11 shots from behind the arc, 30 points from its reserves and five players in double-figures to help secure the win.

A tight game throughout, neither program led by more than eight.

Graceland got off to a quick start, leading 9-2 inside the first five minutes from tipoff. Avila took its first lead of the game nearly eight minutes in off a Jason Ernest made basket. From there, the two teams would trade the lead nine times with 11 ties throughout the 40 minutes.  

Following a pair of Xavier Kahube free throws, the Eagle lead stretched to eight with 6:23 remaining until halftime. Graceland would bring the score to within two on multiple occasions, but a Logan Bishop free throw with less than a second remaining gave Avila a 42-39 lead entering the break. Four first-half three-pointers from Joe Kearney helped Avila to the three-point lead.

The Yellowjackets took a short-lived lead four minutes in to the second half but Avila answered back on the ensuing possession and held Graceland at bay before the home team took another brief lead at 63-62 with just over nine minutes to play.

After Graceland's small lead, Kearney knocked down a deep three-pointer to give Avila another lead at 65-63.

The teams would battle for the next four minutes, with Graceland stretching its lead to as many as five near the five-minute mark. From there, Avila would end the game on a 16-8 run thanks to five points each from Kahube and Reggie Morris.

Holding a two-point lead with five seconds remaining, Gio Mack knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the game and give Avila its first win over a top-25 opponent since taking down No. 7 Ottawa on February 5, 2020.

Kahube led the Eagles with 17 points on 70 percent shooting. The reigning KCAC Third-Team honoree was joined in the scoring column by 16 from Kearney and 15 from Mack. Off the bench, James Ross III put up 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range and 10 points from Morris.   

Avila will look to improve to 5-0 tomorrow at 2:30 from Lamoni against Grand View for the second game of the KCAC/HAAC Classic.

 (photo credit: Graceland University)