UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. — Billy Geschke tried his hand at a career best with 33 points Friday night as the Goshen College men's basketball team defeated Governors State University 91-88 in the Jaguar's Tip-Off Classic at GSU's Athletics and Recreation Center.

Geschke accomplished the career evening with a perfect 3-for-3 mark from behind the arc and a routine 10-for-11 showing at the free-throw line. Geschke is no stranger to cashing in on the freebies: his career mark stands just over 89 percent, ranking him second in Goshen history as he begins his final year in Maple Leaf purple. His career high came just two days after senior Christian Grider punched in a career-high 32 points in a season-opening win over Lawrence Tech on Tuesday. 

Seniors accounted for 83.5 percent of Goshen's scoring efforts on the evening as Grider and Devin Heath-Granger tallied 13 apiece. Connor Funkhouser added 12 and Emmanuel Audu five. Alhassan Barrie and Patryck Ostrowski were the only non-seniors to register a bucket in the contest as Barrie put in 10 points and Ostrowski five. Barrie also led Goshen in rebounds on the evening with seven, including two on the offensive glass.

The Maple Leafs (2-0) finished an astounding 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from three-point land to maintain a lead throughout. Both teams fell victim to the turnover bug in the early-season affair: Goshen turned the ball over 22 times while forcing Governors State (0-1) into 18.

A nip-and-tuck first half saw neither team lead by more than five in the first quarter-hour: Goshen finished the half on a 4-0 run fueled by two Geschke buckets to take its largest lead, 46-33, into the locker room. The edge ballooned as far as 17 points and the Maple Leafs led by 10 as late as the 6:30 mark.

Governors State got points on three straight trips and held Goshen without a basket for almost three minutes to pull back within 72-69 with 4:48 left. The Maple Leafs got their last field goal of the game on a Grider triple 93 seconds later but went 11-for-14 at the foul line to close out the game over the final three minutes. Robbie Brooks's 3-pointer at the buzzer set the final margin, which was deceptive as GSU never had the ball in a one-possession game after halftime.

The Jaguars' offensive attack ended with five players reaching double digits in the scoring column and a sixth player one away from the feat with nine. Brooks led the way with 23. GSU was 34-for-82 (41.5 percent) from the floor but pulled down 43 rebounds to Goshen's 37, paced by 12 from David Anderson.

"Obviously we still have work to do, but I'm very pleased with the effort and composure," said Goshen interim head coach Jon Tropf. "We shot the ball well and handled pressure well late. The energy on the bench was electric. We still need to be better on the glass and at establishing our defensive mindset, but any day you get a win on the road is a good day.

The victory makes Tropf the first Maple Leaf coach since Gene Reagan in 1979 to start his tenure with back-to-back wins over NAIA opponents: Fred Litwiller (1968), Harold Yoder (1958) and Roman Gingerich (1956) all turned the trick as well. Dwight Gingerich and Gary Chupp each started 2-0 on the Goshen sideline but faced non-NAIA schools in the process in 2000 and 2007 respectively.

Goshen concludes the classic on Saturday with a game against Calumet College of Saint Joseph. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.