Grace Men Dig Early Hole In Loss To MVNU
December 1, 2016 at 5:45 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
And changes soon.
In their men’s basketball conference opener at defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan University last week, the Lancers fell behind by 15 points early. Grace lost that game 112-91.
Wednesday night at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, the Lancers trailed Mount Vernon Nazarene University by 18 before they cut the deficit to two and later lost 84-75.
In stretches during both games, the young Lancers proved they could play with some of the best teams in the conference.
Digging themselves a hole, though, certainly didn’t help.
“Our two conference games, we’ve spotted them a big lead,” Kessler said Wednesday night after his team fell to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in the Crossroads League. “You can’t do that.
“Against good teams you have to come out and outhustle and outwork your opponent early, not wait until you’re in a hole. We were digging ourselves out of a hole the whole night. Same thing as the Indiana Wesleyan game, and we’ve had some other games like that, but we were able to overcome it. In this league, you can’t dig yourself a hole like that.”
The Cougars, who improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the league, scored the first four points of the game, and the score was never tied, nor did Grace ever lead.
Mount Vernon led 41-23 at one point during the first half and took a 45-34 lead into the break.
The Lancers continued to chip away and cut the deficit to two points, 66-64, when junior Erik Bowen made a shot in the lane with 5:40 remaining in the game.
The Cougars responded by hitting back-to-back treys.
Grace fought back once again, and a three-pointer by freshman Jaret Sons cut the deficit to three, 78-75, with 1:47 left, but Mount Vernon was able to seal the deal.
While the teams were even in a lot of statistical categories Wednesday night, the one that jumped out at Kessler was the difference in turnovers.
Grace committed 15 turnovers, while Mount Vernon had just nine.
The Cougars, in a nine-point win, scored 20 points off Grace’s turnovers.
“One area that jumps out at me, if you look at all the stats, is turnovers,” said Kessler. “They had nine, we had 15, and they scored 20 points off turnovers. We’ve got to get better there.”
Bowen led Grace with game-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Chad Hoffer and Logan Godfrey scored 11 and nine points, respectively.
Braxton Linville and Stephen Halstead scored eight points each, and Tre Olive and Sons finished with seven and six, respectively.
For the Cougars, Deontae Cole and Jeremiah Roberts scored 19 points each, while Josh Ashwill and Joey Schmitz added 15 and 14, respectively.
Grace is in action again Saturday at 3 p.m. when rival Bethel College comes to town for a men’s/women’s doubleheader. The Lady Lancers tip off at 1 p.m.
And changes soon.
In their men’s basketball conference opener at defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan University last week, the Lancers fell behind by 15 points early. Grace lost that game 112-91.
Wednesday night at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, the Lancers trailed Mount Vernon Nazarene University by 18 before they cut the deficit to two and later lost 84-75.
In stretches during both games, the young Lancers proved they could play with some of the best teams in the conference.
Digging themselves a hole, though, certainly didn’t help.
“Our two conference games, we’ve spotted them a big lead,” Kessler said Wednesday night after his team fell to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in the Crossroads League. “You can’t do that.
“Against good teams you have to come out and outhustle and outwork your opponent early, not wait until you’re in a hole. We were digging ourselves out of a hole the whole night. Same thing as the Indiana Wesleyan game, and we’ve had some other games like that, but we were able to overcome it. In this league, you can’t dig yourself a hole like that.”
The Cougars, who improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the league, scored the first four points of the game, and the score was never tied, nor did Grace ever lead.
Mount Vernon led 41-23 at one point during the first half and took a 45-34 lead into the break.
The Lancers continued to chip away and cut the deficit to two points, 66-64, when junior Erik Bowen made a shot in the lane with 5:40 remaining in the game.
The Cougars responded by hitting back-to-back treys.
Grace fought back once again, and a three-pointer by freshman Jaret Sons cut the deficit to three, 78-75, with 1:47 left, but Mount Vernon was able to seal the deal.
While the teams were even in a lot of statistical categories Wednesday night, the one that jumped out at Kessler was the difference in turnovers.
Grace committed 15 turnovers, while Mount Vernon had just nine.
The Cougars, in a nine-point win, scored 20 points off Grace’s turnovers.
“One area that jumps out at me, if you look at all the stats, is turnovers,” said Kessler. “They had nine, we had 15, and they scored 20 points off turnovers. We’ve got to get better there.”
Bowen led Grace with game-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Chad Hoffer and Logan Godfrey scored 11 and nine points, respectively.
Braxton Linville and Stephen Halstead scored eight points each, and Tre Olive and Sons finished with seven and six, respectively.
For the Cougars, Deontae Cole and Jeremiah Roberts scored 19 points each, while Josh Ashwill and Joey Schmitz added 15 and 14, respectively.
Grace is in action again Saturday at 3 p.m. when rival Bethel College comes to town for a men’s/women’s doubleheader. The Lady Lancers tip off at 1 p.m.
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