Grace Men's Basketball Hopes To Improve Upon Last Year's Record
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WINONA LAKE -ÊFollowing a 7-26 season, this year's men's basketball team will look toward eight returning players and nine newcomers to provide improvement from last year. Seven of the Lancers' top nine players, in terms of minutes, are back. So are last year's top three scorers and rebounders.
Even with all the returning players, there are no seniors on this year's squad. However, four juniors return and a junior transfer was added.
Ben Tonagel was one of three players to score 12.4 points per game. He also led the team in free-throw shooting and averaged four rebounds a game. He does a bit of everything.
"He's a great perimeter shooter and a good rebounder," head coach Jim Kessler, beginning his 23rd season, said. "A lot of times that's overlooked. He's our captain this year and is giving good leadership."
Shannon Brown will be back for his second season at Grace. Although he played just the second semester last year because of transfer rules, he averaged 4.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in a spot-starter role.
"He is Mr. All-Purpose," Kessler said. "He can come off the bench and play several different positions. He's super competitive and a hard worker. He's probably the most experienced player we have. He does a lot of things well for us."
Dan Scharlach and Jeremy Swanson will return to bolster the inside game. Scharlach played in only 15 games after injuring his back and Swanson averaged only 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds after a strong freshman campaign.
"Jeremy needs to get into the swing after a tough sophomore season," Kessler said. "Dan's back has completed the recovery. We need to get him back on track as aggressively as he was as a freshman in terms of rebounding."
Teryck Taylor will join the Lancers as a junior transferring from Cumberland College. Taylor averaged 17.5 points, 12 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game as a senior in high school. He averaged nine points and seven boards last year.
"He's really a hard-nosed rebounder," Kessler said. "His pursuit of the basketball is excellent and it's elevated the rebounding tendency of some of the other people on the team. He's going to pursue the ball every time on the boards."
A number of sophomores will also fill key roles for the Lancers. Matt Moore and Brian O'Dell will handle the point guard duties once more. Moore will start again this year.
"Probably the toughest place to play as a freshman is at the point guard," Kessler said. "It's almost not fair to put a guy in that position. We needed Matt to step in there and he answered the call. Brian plays pretty much error free and within himself. He's extremely unselfish."
Lawrence Burnett returns to play small forward for the Lancers. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage.
"As a freshman he did a stellar job," Kessler said. "He was really the go-to guy a lot of times. We look for good things from him."
The final sophomore is Ryan Bricker. Bricker was among the conference and national leaders in three-point percentage at 45.7 percent. He proved that he could take over games as he did in a 29-point, seven-rebound, six-assist performance against Holy Family College.
"He's a quality guy," Kessler said. "He's a competitor. He had some of the better defensive games against some of our opponent's better offensive players."
Jeremy Wike comes from a strong program at Wooster, Ohio, and will play small forward. Aaron Jackson also comes from a strong Dayton Christian squad and played under his father in high school. Lee Compson comes from Warsaw Community High School and played in a strong program there also.
Eric Davis, Mike Frede, Pete Downhour, Doug Baumgardner and Jeremy Bontrager should also see some action as well as honing their skills on the reserve team.
Kessler sees a number of places in which the team needs to improve over last year. Those include consistency in rebounding, shot selection and learning how to stay out of foul trouble. If those things come together, this squad could find themselves in the thick of a conference race.
"If we get off to a good start, this team could be real competitive," Kessler said. "I really believe we can end in the top half of the conference."
That means the Lancers will have to battle through a strong group of teams to get to that point. St. Francis returns most of its players. Bethel returns a strong group of players. Marian has almost everyone back. The conference will continue to be the best in the NAIA.
"It is the premier conference in the country from an NAIA standpoint," Kessler said. "It's pretty well accepted. When you go to nationals, it's not even questioned that we're going to have a couple of All-Americans (from the MCC). It's just a given because the conference is so strong."
Kessler understands that last year's 7-26 season had a purpose. There was a reason for some of lumps this team took. And those losses could be repaid this year as the Lancers continue to mature and play as a team.
Grace College Men's Basketball Roster
Name Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown/High School
Doug Baumgartner G Fr. 5-11 Sellersville, PA/Faith Academy Christian
Lee Compson G Fr. 5-11 Warsaw, IN/Warsaw Community
Matt Moore G So. 5-9 Columbia City, IN/Columbia City
Mike Frede G/F Fr. 6-4 Milwaukee, WI/Heritage Christian
Brian O'Dell G So. 6-0 Shorewood, IL/Aurora Christian
Jeremy Bontrager F So. 6-2 New Paris, IN/Fairfield
Ryan Bricker G/F So. 6-3 Albion, IN/Central Noble
Shannon Brown F Jr. 6-5 North Judson, IN/North Judson
Lawrence Burnett F So. 6-2 Chicago, IL/Chicago Vocational
Ben Tonagel G/F Jr. 6-3 LaPorte, IN/LaPorte
Teryck Taylor F Jr. 6-4 Houston, TX/Aldine
Peter Downhour G/F Fr. 6-2 Lima, OH
Jeremy Wike G/F Fr. 6-2 Wooster, OH/Wooster
Aaron Jackson G/F Fr. 6-0 Dayton, OH/Dayton Christian
Dan Scharlach F Jr. 6-5 Huntertown, IN/Carroll
Jeremy Swanson F Jr. 6-9 LaOtto, IN/East Noble
Head Coach -ÊJim Kessler
Assistant Coach -ÊJim Martin, Jon Yeh
Grace College Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 5-6 Warsaw Optimist Tip-Off Tourney 6 p.m.
Nov. 12-13 at Mount Vernon Nazarene Tournament 8 p.m.
Nov. 16 at Tri-State....... 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19-20 at Wisconsin Lutheran Tournament 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Purdue University-Calumet 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTH BEND 7 p.m.
Dec. 3-4 at Trinity International Tourney TBA
Dec. 7 at Spring Arbor 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 10-11 HOLIDAY INN-"VITATIONAL" 6 p.m.
Dec. 18-23 at Cancun Tourney TBA
Jan. 5 IU NORTHWEST 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 8 MARIAN........... 3 p.m.
Jan. 11 at Huntington........ 7 p.m.
Jan. 13 BETHEL .............. 7 p.m.
Jan. 15 at Indiana Wesleyan 3 p.m.
Jan. 18 TAYLOR .................. 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 at Goshen......... 3 p.m.
Jan. 25 ST. FRANCIS ........... 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Bethel.................... 3 p.m.
Feb. 1 at Marian.......... 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 HUNTINGTON......... 3 p.m.
Feb. 8 INDIANA WESLEYAN 7 p.m.
Feb. 12 at Taylor-Upland 3 p.m.
Feb 15 GOSHEN.......... 7 p.m.
Feb. 19 at St. Francis-Fort Wayne 3 p.m.
Feb. 23, 26, 29 MCC Tourney (at highest seed) 7, 3, 7 p.m.
March 10-14 NAIA National Tournament-Branson MO TBA
March 16-18 NCCAA National Tournament-Oakland City, IN TBA
*Home games in caps [[In-content Ad]]
WINONA LAKE -ÊFollowing a 7-26 season, this year's men's basketball team will look toward eight returning players and nine newcomers to provide improvement from last year. Seven of the Lancers' top nine players, in terms of minutes, are back. So are last year's top three scorers and rebounders.
Even with all the returning players, there are no seniors on this year's squad. However, four juniors return and a junior transfer was added.
Ben Tonagel was one of three players to score 12.4 points per game. He also led the team in free-throw shooting and averaged four rebounds a game. He does a bit of everything.
"He's a great perimeter shooter and a good rebounder," head coach Jim Kessler, beginning his 23rd season, said. "A lot of times that's overlooked. He's our captain this year and is giving good leadership."
Shannon Brown will be back for his second season at Grace. Although he played just the second semester last year because of transfer rules, he averaged 4.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in a spot-starter role.
"He is Mr. All-Purpose," Kessler said. "He can come off the bench and play several different positions. He's super competitive and a hard worker. He's probably the most experienced player we have. He does a lot of things well for us."
Dan Scharlach and Jeremy Swanson will return to bolster the inside game. Scharlach played in only 15 games after injuring his back and Swanson averaged only 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds after a strong freshman campaign.
"Jeremy needs to get into the swing after a tough sophomore season," Kessler said. "Dan's back has completed the recovery. We need to get him back on track as aggressively as he was as a freshman in terms of rebounding."
Teryck Taylor will join the Lancers as a junior transferring from Cumberland College. Taylor averaged 17.5 points, 12 rebounds and 7.2 blocks per game as a senior in high school. He averaged nine points and seven boards last year.
"He's really a hard-nosed rebounder," Kessler said. "His pursuit of the basketball is excellent and it's elevated the rebounding tendency of some of the other people on the team. He's going to pursue the ball every time on the boards."
A number of sophomores will also fill key roles for the Lancers. Matt Moore and Brian O'Dell will handle the point guard duties once more. Moore will start again this year.
"Probably the toughest place to play as a freshman is at the point guard," Kessler said. "It's almost not fair to put a guy in that position. We needed Matt to step in there and he answered the call. Brian plays pretty much error free and within himself. He's extremely unselfish."
Lawrence Burnett returns to play small forward for the Lancers. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage.
"As a freshman he did a stellar job," Kessler said. "He was really the go-to guy a lot of times. We look for good things from him."
The final sophomore is Ryan Bricker. Bricker was among the conference and national leaders in three-point percentage at 45.7 percent. He proved that he could take over games as he did in a 29-point, seven-rebound, six-assist performance against Holy Family College.
"He's a quality guy," Kessler said. "He's a competitor. He had some of the better defensive games against some of our opponent's better offensive players."
Jeremy Wike comes from a strong program at Wooster, Ohio, and will play small forward. Aaron Jackson also comes from a strong Dayton Christian squad and played under his father in high school. Lee Compson comes from Warsaw Community High School and played in a strong program there also.
Eric Davis, Mike Frede, Pete Downhour, Doug Baumgardner and Jeremy Bontrager should also see some action as well as honing their skills on the reserve team.
Kessler sees a number of places in which the team needs to improve over last year. Those include consistency in rebounding, shot selection and learning how to stay out of foul trouble. If those things come together, this squad could find themselves in the thick of a conference race.
"If we get off to a good start, this team could be real competitive," Kessler said. "I really believe we can end in the top half of the conference."
That means the Lancers will have to battle through a strong group of teams to get to that point. St. Francis returns most of its players. Bethel returns a strong group of players. Marian has almost everyone back. The conference will continue to be the best in the NAIA.
"It is the premier conference in the country from an NAIA standpoint," Kessler said. "It's pretty well accepted. When you go to nationals, it's not even questioned that we're going to have a couple of All-Americans (from the MCC). It's just a given because the conference is so strong."
Kessler understands that last year's 7-26 season had a purpose. There was a reason for some of lumps this team took. And those losses could be repaid this year as the Lancers continue to mature and play as a team.
Grace College Men's Basketball Roster
Name Pos. Yr. Ht. Hometown/High School
Doug Baumgartner G Fr. 5-11 Sellersville, PA/Faith Academy Christian
Lee Compson G Fr. 5-11 Warsaw, IN/Warsaw Community
Matt Moore G So. 5-9 Columbia City, IN/Columbia City
Mike Frede G/F Fr. 6-4 Milwaukee, WI/Heritage Christian
Brian O'Dell G So. 6-0 Shorewood, IL/Aurora Christian
Jeremy Bontrager F So. 6-2 New Paris, IN/Fairfield
Ryan Bricker G/F So. 6-3 Albion, IN/Central Noble
Shannon Brown F Jr. 6-5 North Judson, IN/North Judson
Lawrence Burnett F So. 6-2 Chicago, IL/Chicago Vocational
Ben Tonagel G/F Jr. 6-3 LaPorte, IN/LaPorte
Teryck Taylor F Jr. 6-4 Houston, TX/Aldine
Peter Downhour G/F Fr. 6-2 Lima, OH
Jeremy Wike G/F Fr. 6-2 Wooster, OH/Wooster
Aaron Jackson G/F Fr. 6-0 Dayton, OH/Dayton Christian
Dan Scharlach F Jr. 6-5 Huntertown, IN/Carroll
Jeremy Swanson F Jr. 6-9 LaOtto, IN/East Noble
Head Coach -ÊJim Kessler
Assistant Coach -ÊJim Martin, Jon Yeh
Grace College Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 5-6 Warsaw Optimist Tip-Off Tourney 6 p.m.
Nov. 12-13 at Mount Vernon Nazarene Tournament 8 p.m.
Nov. 16 at Tri-State....... 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19-20 at Wisconsin Lutheran Tournament 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Purdue University-Calumet 7 p.m.
Nov. 30 INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTH BEND 7 p.m.
Dec. 3-4 at Trinity International Tourney TBA
Dec. 7 at Spring Arbor 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 10-11 HOLIDAY INN-"VITATIONAL" 6 p.m.
Dec. 18-23 at Cancun Tourney TBA
Jan. 5 IU NORTHWEST 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 8 MARIAN........... 3 p.m.
Jan. 11 at Huntington........ 7 p.m.
Jan. 13 BETHEL .............. 7 p.m.
Jan. 15 at Indiana Wesleyan 3 p.m.
Jan. 18 TAYLOR .................. 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 at Goshen......... 3 p.m.
Jan. 25 ST. FRANCIS ........... 7 p.m.
Jan. 29 at Bethel.................... 3 p.m.
Feb. 1 at Marian.......... 7 p.m.
Feb. 5 HUNTINGTON......... 3 p.m.
Feb. 8 INDIANA WESLEYAN 7 p.m.
Feb. 12 at Taylor-Upland 3 p.m.
Feb 15 GOSHEN.......... 7 p.m.
Feb. 19 at St. Francis-Fort Wayne 3 p.m.
Feb. 23, 26, 29 MCC Tourney (at highest seed) 7, 3, 7 p.m.
March 10-14 NAIA National Tournament-Branson MO TBA
March 16-18 NCCAA National Tournament-Oakland City, IN TBA
*Home games in caps [[In-content Ad]]