Braves Use 'D' To Stay Close, But Fall In Marquette

MARQUETTE---The Gladstone Braves knew that they were the underdogs as they travelled to Marquette to face the Upper Peninsula's top-ranked team.

The Marquette Redmen had lost just once all season (to Sault Ste. Marie), and the line-up featured two big guys and a pair of guards who could play both defense and offense.

But the Braves did not back down, and the boys played strong defense all night long.

Marquette did not get a basket during the entire second quarter, and its big men....Mark Pap and A.J. Grazulis...combined to score just 19 points the entire night.

But the Redmen also played strong defense and its guards did well as Marquette escaped with a 53-43 Great Northern Conference victory.

"I thought we played hard," Gladstone Coach Phil Griebel said. "We tried that 1-2-2 trap on them and it seemed like they wanted to give us the ball, and we took it away a few times. But they hit some big shots every time they needed to."

Gladstone's game plan was to make sure that Pap and Grazulis didn't beat them.

Marquette's Larry Brunette nails a three.

It worked, but in the first quarter, Larry Burnette nailed a pair of three-pointers and Brad Brow also hit a three. Jared Vuksan scored three baskets in that first quarter, but the Braves still trailed, 13-8, at the end of the first quarter. Marquette still led, 19-16, at halftime, however.

"It's a physical GNC game and you've got to be ready to play," Griebel said. "There was a lot of hand-checking going on. They pushed us out, pushed us out. We did have some open looks, and we have to be able to knock them down. That was the difference."

The Braves came out with a purpose in the second half. Vuksan scored twice from in close, and Blake Ballard also threw down a pair of jump shots.

Gladstone took its only lead of the game, 26-25, with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

Marquette Coach Brad Nelson was up and pacing the sideline, perhaps remembering the 28-27 upset loss to the Braves three years ago on a Johnny Cretens buzzer-beater. But not this time.

Marquette went on a 12-0 run, with Brow getting a basket, steal, and basket from underneath the hoop as the Braves got sloppy with the ball on the inbound pass. Marquette's lead was 37-26, although Michael Cretens did nail a three-pointer later in the period to bring the Braves to within eight at 37-29.

Gladstone's Michael Cretens nails a three.

In the fourth quarter, the Braves had one last push. Cretens nailed a three, and then hit two free throws a moment later. Gladstone was within 39-34 with 6:30 left in the game.

And Jared Hunter's three-pointer with 3:13 left had the Braves within 44-38.

Brunette put the game away, however, with two steals within a one-minute period of time, and by nailing a no-look circus shot from inside the paint. Marquette scored the next seven points to take a 13-point lead, and the Redmen ran out the clock from there.

Brunette led the Redmen with 15 points, to go along with several clutch steals and assists. The #1-ranked Marquette Redmen improved to 12-1 on the season.

Gladstone, meanwhile, fell to 6-7 on the season with its second loss to Marquette.

The Braves got a game-high 17 points from Cretens while Vuksan added 11 points.

"I'm proud of the kids," Griebel said. "I mean, we battled. We fought the whole game. But I'm tired of saying that 'we're close'. It'd be nice to be rewarded with a win."

Gladstone travels to Kingsford for another GNC game this Friday night.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see photos and videos from the game, courtesy of Mike Dagenais. Also, radio highlights.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/6	7:15 PM	Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	73 - 61 (W)	1-0

12/11	7:15 PM	Marquette Redmen	51 - 58 (L)	1-1

12/14	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	78 - 66 (W)	2-1

12/18	7:15 PM	Mid Peninsula Wolverines	68 - 61 (W)	3-1

12/28	6:15 PM	at St. Ignace Saints	82 - 67 (W)	4-1

1/3	7:15 PM	at Mid Peninsula Wolverines	61 - 67 (L)	4-2

1/7	7:30 PM	at Westwood Patriots	66 - 56 (W)	5-2

1/11	7:15 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	34 - 64 (L)	5-3

1/15	7:15 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	60 - 55 (W)	6-3

1/18	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	63 - 70 (L)	6-4

1/23	7:30 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	62 - 76 (L)	6-5

1/26	3:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	66 - 67 (L)	6-6

2/5	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	43 - 53 (L)	6-7

2/8	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	57 - 62 (L)	6-8

2/12	7:15 PM	Negaunee Miners	46 - 79 (L)	6-9

2/15	7:15 PM	Menominee Maroons	55 - 65 (L)	6-10

2/18	7:30 PM	at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	81 - 55 (W)	7-10

2/22	7:15 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	48 - 57 (L)	7-11

2/26	7:30 PM	at Manistique Emeralds	69 - 54 (W)	8-11

3/4	6:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	56 - 53 (W)	9-11

3/6	7:00 PM	Menominee Maroons	64 - 61 (W)	10-11

3/11	8:00 PM	at Grayling Vikings	68 - 73 (L)	10-12