Box Score

Grant Johnson put the Rangers on his back in the final moments of a thrilling 76-68 win over Grace Bible College. The first day of the Slam Dunk Diabetes Classic was played in the DeSimone Simone Gymnasium Friday night.

Johnson knocked down a 15-footer with 1:20 left in the game to take a 70-65 lead. With 35 ticks on the clock, Johnson struck again, from the same spot on the floor, to keep the lead at five at 72-67. A thunderous break-a-way dunk with 19 seconds left salted a way a win which didn't look like it was going to happen at times.

The Tigers roared to an early 12-0 lead. The Rangers were held off the scoreboard until the 13:27 mark when Jeremy Saffold hit the back end of two free throw attempts.

Parkside inched closer to 35-29 at halftime and eventually garnered its first lead at 37-36 on a running jumper by none other than Johnson. The Tigers forged back in front and had a five-point lead at 57-52 with 8 minutes left to play. 

Kevin Senechalle drained a jumper with 3:30 left to put Parkside back up, 63-62, setting up Johnson's heroics down the stretch.

Johnson led all scorers with 28 points, 23 of those came in the second half. He was 10-16 from the floor, 3-4 from behind the three-point arc, and dished out six assists.

Sam Katula came off the bench to knock down all four of his three-point attempts for a dozen points. 

Grace shot 51 percent from the floor for the game, while the Rangers canned 46 percent of their shots.

Day Two of the Slam Dunk Classic has the Rangers taking on Bemidji State at approximately 5 p.m. The Beavers hammered Purdue North Central, 88-60. Grace will play Purdue North Central at 1 p.m. A Ranger women's game against Northern Michigan is sandwiched in between the two men's games at 3 p.m.