Grace Men Outrun St. Francis 106-95
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WINONA LAKE -ÊGrace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler had one piece of advice for his players before facing No. 10 University of St. Francis Thursday night.
"You've got to believe."
And his Lancers listened. Grace (9-14, 2-3 MCC) downed Mid-Central Conference opponent St. Francis (14-9, 3-2 MCC) 106-95 in the highest scoring regulation game of the season for the Lancers.
Grace's Matt Abernethy listened especially well, scoring 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds to lead the Lancers in both categories.
"We go to Matt a lot," said Kessler. "He's a good, steady workhorse. We call him 'The Moose,' and I think that's appropriate."
"The Moose" gave the Lancers the spark they needed early in the first half. After the Cougars netted a three-pointer to start the game, Abernethy hit a field goal to put Grace with in one.
St. Francis answered with two straight baskets to take a 7-2 lead, but again Abernethy kept the Grace squad in the game. A basket and a free throw by "The Moose" cut the Cougar lead to two, 7-5, at the 16:31 mark.
With 15:05 left in the first half, another field goal by Abernethy tied the score at 9-all. Then a three-point basket by Ben Tonagel at the 14:23 mark gave the Lancers their first lead of the game, 12-11.
Over the next 10 minutes, Grace and St. Francis fought for the lead. In that time, there were seven ties, and neither team could build more than a two-point lead.
However, at the 4:17 mark, Abernethy hit two free throws to start a 12-4 Grace run to end the period with a 42-35 Lancer advantage.
Early foul trouble plagued the Lancers, causing 11 players to see court time in the first half alone. Going into the second half, four Grace players (Chris Irwin, Matt Moore, Brian O'Dell, and Joe Saunders) had two fouls.
At the half, "The Moose" horned his way inside against the St. Francis defense to score 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a 5-of-5 performance from the charity stripe. That total equalled more than St. Francis' top three scorers Mitch Smith (eight points), Jeremy Creigh (six points) and Ryan Norfleet (six points) combined.
Grace and St. Francis traded baskets to start the second half. However, at the 16:14 mark, a basket by Abernethy started 12-0 run by the Lancers.
Grace increased its lead to 21 on an Irwin trey at the 13:35 mark, but the explosive Cougar offense was not ready to admit defeat.
St. Francis clawed its way back into the game, chipping away at the Lancer lead until it dwindled to just four points with 3:02 left in the game.
A series of baskets by Grace, including six straight points by Moore, restored the lead to 12 with 1:21 left in the game.
Grace matched St. Francis basket for basket in the last minute of play to earn its second MCC win.
Five Lancers finished the game in double figures. Abernethy had a double-double with 36 points and 13 rebounds. Tonagel and Moore added 13 points each and Dan Scharlach and Irwin pitched in 11 each.
Four Cougars, Smith (21), Ben Meyer (20), Norfleet (13) and Keith Roddy (11) scored in double figures as well.
Grace travels to Upland for a game with MCC opponent Taylor at 3 p.m. Saturday.
GRACE 106
St. FRANCIS 95
St. Francis 35 60 - 95
Grace 42 64 - 106
St. Francis FG FT R A S Pts.
Norfleet 4-8 5-6 3 1 0 13
Meyer 7-17 3-3 3 2 2 20
Bolinger 1-3 5-6 2 1 1 7
Creigh 3-7 0-0 1 1 0 9
Smith 7-11 7-9 6 0 0 21
Roddy 2-6 7-9 3 3 2 11
James 0-0 0-2 2 0 0 0
Louden 2-6 0-0 2 0 0 4
Holmes 0-1 6-6 5 0 0 6
Baughman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Hibbeln 2-2 0-0 1 0 0 4
Totals 28-61 33-41 31 8 5 95
Grace FG FT R A S Pts.
O'Dell 2-3 2-2 0 4 0 8
Moore 3-5 7-11 2 3 1 13
Abernethy 13-18 10-11 13 2 0 36
Tonagel 4-6 2-4 6 9 0 13
Scharlach 5-6 1-2 3 1 1 11
Irwin 2-6 5-6 1 3 3 11
Smith 2-2 2-2 0 0 0 6
Saunders 0-1 2-3 6 1 0 2
Wike 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Jackson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Swanson 2-5 1-1 3 1 1 5
Totals 33-52 33-44 37 24 6 106
Three-point goals -ÊSt. Francis 6-23 (Meyer 3, Creigh 3), Grace 7-12 (Irwin 2, O'Dell 2, Tonagel 3). Fouls -ÊSt. Francis 27, Grace 30. Fouled out -ÊNorfleet, Smith, Abernethy, Scharlach. Turnovers -ÊSt. Francis 10, Grace 16. [[In-content Ad]]
WINONA LAKE -ÊGrace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler had one piece of advice for his players before facing No. 10 University of St. Francis Thursday night.
"You've got to believe."
And his Lancers listened. Grace (9-14, 2-3 MCC) downed Mid-Central Conference opponent St. Francis (14-9, 3-2 MCC) 106-95 in the highest scoring regulation game of the season for the Lancers.
Grace's Matt Abernethy listened especially well, scoring 36 points and pulling down 13 rebounds to lead the Lancers in both categories.
"We go to Matt a lot," said Kessler. "He's a good, steady workhorse. We call him 'The Moose,' and I think that's appropriate."
"The Moose" gave the Lancers the spark they needed early in the first half. After the Cougars netted a three-pointer to start the game, Abernethy hit a field goal to put Grace with in one.
St. Francis answered with two straight baskets to take a 7-2 lead, but again Abernethy kept the Grace squad in the game. A basket and a free throw by "The Moose" cut the Cougar lead to two, 7-5, at the 16:31 mark.
With 15:05 left in the first half, another field goal by Abernethy tied the score at 9-all. Then a three-point basket by Ben Tonagel at the 14:23 mark gave the Lancers their first lead of the game, 12-11.
Over the next 10 minutes, Grace and St. Francis fought for the lead. In that time, there were seven ties, and neither team could build more than a two-point lead.
However, at the 4:17 mark, Abernethy hit two free throws to start a 12-4 Grace run to end the period with a 42-35 Lancer advantage.
Early foul trouble plagued the Lancers, causing 11 players to see court time in the first half alone. Going into the second half, four Grace players (Chris Irwin, Matt Moore, Brian O'Dell, and Joe Saunders) had two fouls.
At the half, "The Moose" horned his way inside against the St. Francis defense to score 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a 5-of-5 performance from the charity stripe. That total equalled more than St. Francis' top three scorers Mitch Smith (eight points), Jeremy Creigh (six points) and Ryan Norfleet (six points) combined.
Grace and St. Francis traded baskets to start the second half. However, at the 16:14 mark, a basket by Abernethy started 12-0 run by the Lancers.
Grace increased its lead to 21 on an Irwin trey at the 13:35 mark, but the explosive Cougar offense was not ready to admit defeat.
St. Francis clawed its way back into the game, chipping away at the Lancer lead until it dwindled to just four points with 3:02 left in the game.
A series of baskets by Grace, including six straight points by Moore, restored the lead to 12 with 1:21 left in the game.
Grace matched St. Francis basket for basket in the last minute of play to earn its second MCC win.
Five Lancers finished the game in double figures. Abernethy had a double-double with 36 points and 13 rebounds. Tonagel and Moore added 13 points each and Dan Scharlach and Irwin pitched in 11 each.
Four Cougars, Smith (21), Ben Meyer (20), Norfleet (13) and Keith Roddy (11) scored in double figures as well.
Grace travels to Upland for a game with MCC opponent Taylor at 3 p.m. Saturday.
GRACE 106
St. FRANCIS 95
St. Francis 35 60 - 95
Grace 42 64 - 106
St. Francis FG FT R A S Pts.
Norfleet 4-8 5-6 3 1 0 13
Meyer 7-17 3-3 3 2 2 20
Bolinger 1-3 5-6 2 1 1 7
Creigh 3-7 0-0 1 1 0 9
Smith 7-11 7-9 6 0 0 21
Roddy 2-6 7-9 3 3 2 11
James 0-0 0-2 2 0 0 0
Louden 2-6 0-0 2 0 0 4
Holmes 0-1 6-6 5 0 0 6
Baughman 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Hibbeln 2-2 0-0 1 0 0 4
Totals 28-61 33-41 31 8 5 95
Grace FG FT R A S Pts.
O'Dell 2-3 2-2 0 4 0 8
Moore 3-5 7-11 2 3 1 13
Abernethy 13-18 10-11 13 2 0 36
Tonagel 4-6 2-4 6 9 0 13
Scharlach 5-6 1-2 3 1 1 11
Irwin 2-6 5-6 1 3 3 11
Smith 2-2 2-2 0 0 0 6
Saunders 0-1 2-3 6 1 0 2
Wike 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Jackson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Swanson 2-5 1-1 3 1 1 5
Totals 33-52 33-44 37 24 6 106
Three-point goals -ÊSt. Francis 6-23 (Meyer 3, Creigh 3), Grace 7-12 (Irwin 2, O'Dell 2, Tonagel 3). Fouls -ÊSt. Francis 27, Grace 30. Fouled out -ÊNorfleet, Smith, Abernethy, Scharlach. Turnovers -ÊSt. Francis 10, Grace 16. [[In-content Ad]]