SPRING ARBOR, Mich - Junior David Richmond hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play as Grace pulled off a 70-67 men's basketball victory over Spring Arbor Tuesday. With the win, head coach Jim Kessler picked up the 500th of his career, all at Grace in 28 years.

"When I got started, I thought that I'd give it five years and then try something else like selling cars," Kessler said. "My goal every game is to be 1-0 and I guess we've done that 500 times. I've been very fortunate."

Kessler was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading the program to its only NAIA National Championship during the 1991-92 season and has twice been named NCCAA National Coach of the Year. As well, his teams have won the Mid-Central Conference Championship eight times. Despite all the accolades and accomplishments, Kessler learned that it isn't during those times that you become a great coach.

"I learned long ago that you have to weather the difficult years to have longevity," Kessler said. "The administration at Grace has always been very supportive."

In getting win number 500, it was Richmond, who started his collegiate career for Kessler six years ago, who broke a 67-67 tie on a three-pointer with 47 seconds to play as the Lancers escaped a tough Mid-Central Conference road game to even their conference record at 2-2.

"The shot clock was running down," Kessler said about the game winner. "And he hit a huge shot. We hit some big shots tonight as a team."

Spring Arbor entered the contest with a 6-1 record at home, but the Lancers tossed aside a Cougar team that battled back from a double digit deficit.

Grace led 61-50 with seven minutes to play but Spring Arbor went on a 17-6 run to tie the game with just over a minute to play. Richmond, however, hit the big three-pointer and the Cougars failed to convert three opportunities to tie the game down the stretch as Grace missed the front end of one-and-one free-throw opportunities twice in the final 25 seconds.

"Spring Arbor can really light it up offensively," Kessler said. "That had two big spurts, one at the beginning of the game and one at the end, but we had a good team effort and it was a great win."

The Lancers got strong balance in the contest as Richmond, Scott Moore and Andrew Kipsey all finished with 13 points. Tim Bailey added 12, while Marcus Moore and Joe Saunders each had seven. For Marcus Moore, it was the first single digit scoring game of his career as he had posted at least 10 points in the first 15 games this season.

The Lancers also won the contest despite playing without freshman Kyle Johnson, who has a knee injury, and junior Ben Snyder, who missed the game with the flu. Johnson's knee injury is not expected to cost him the rest of the season, but the team will know more after an MRI Wednesday.

Looking back at 500 wins, Kessler had one important group to mention.

"I want to thank my wife and family," Kessler said. "This job can be brutal and demanding, and it takes a special woman to be a coach's wife. My daughters have been involved as well and they have always been supportive."

Grace improves to 12-4 on the season, a strong improvement over a 10-20 season a year ago. The Lancers will host No. 15 Taylor Saturday at 3 p.m. in a key conference game for both teams. Each is 2-2 in the MCC and will be looking to move into the upper half of the conference standings. [[In-content Ad]]