WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The Dallas Christian College men's basketball began the 2021-22 season with an exhibition at Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) on Thursday, October 28 at Sheaffer Center.
 
DCC produced a 44.9 (22-49) field goal percentage, which included 13 made three-pointers. The team was also strong at the free throw line with an 81.8 percent clip (27-33). Versachie Buchanan headlined the offense for the Crusaders with a team-high 26 points thanks to 8-for-15 shooting on the floor and 7-for-13 from downtown. Though the total doesn't count for his personal stats due to it being an exhibition, Versachie displayed he will be a scoring threat once again on the season like he was down the stretch of 2020-21.
 
The other DCC player to reach double figures in points was Jairus Allen, who made his Crusader debut with 10 points. He led the guests at the stripe with six made free throws out of eight tries. Nicholas Erves posted a 5-for-7 effort, while Jordan Harris and Michael Tucker were 100 percent in four attempts at the charity stripe.
 
Things started out great for the undersized Crusaders playing mostly guards on the floor. They were able to grab an 11-9 lead after Jalen Perez drained a trey four minutes in. Allen split at the free throw line to open DCC's largest margin on the night at three. SAGU started to pull away a little over six minutes in with an eight-point lead (22-17). However, consecutive three-pointers by Buchanan showed the grit DCC had to score quickly as the six-point swing appeared out of nowhere. The Lions would reach a double-digit lead for the first time with eight minutes left in the first stanza. DCC had kept up before a little run aided the home team. Even with a significant size advantage, the Lions only led by 12 at halftime, 57-45. The final score would become lopsided at 115-84, which was thanks to SAGU operating with 40 points in the paint compared to 14 by the Crusaders.
 
Joshua Kashila garnered a game-high 30 points for the Lions and had seven assists with three steals. Nykolas Mason also matched Kashila with eight field goals and had 20 points. Behind Nathan Bailey's 15 was Jacob Rainey with 14 and he also swiped three steals. SAGU entered ranked third in the NAIA national basketball poll.
 
Dallas Christian faces a couple more tough NAIA opponents in the middle of this week starting with Wayland Baptist University on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The next day at 7 p.m., DCC will be back in the metroplex at Texas Wesleyan University at 7 p.m.
 
Links for game coverage can be found on the schedule/results page.
 
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."