HUNTINGTON - After Huntington's men's basketball team defeated Bethel College Saturday by 11 points, the Foresters became the team to beat in the Mid-Central Conference.

When the new poll came out Tuesday, it backed up that statement as Huntington was ranked No. 3 in the country, the highest the Foresters had ever been.

Tuesday night, Huntington attempted to back up that ranking against the Grace College Lancers, but it found it more difficult than was expected. The Lancers took the Foresters to overtime before eventually falling 75-71.

With six minutes to play Tuesday night, the Lancers found themselves in a 55-55 tie. Shannon Brown scored on a layup and Ryan Bricker followed up with a three-point play to give Grace a 60-55 lead with four minutes to go.

Huntington came back with four consecutive points to cut the lead to one point before 5-foot-9 Matt Moore went over 6'4' Brodie Garber for a layup to give the Lancers a 62-59 advantage with two minutes to play.

Teryck Taylor went to the free throw line with 45 seconds to play but missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Huntington made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime.

In the overtime session, Brett Snodgrass hit a three-pointer for the Foresters to open the extra period, and Grace never got the game tied again. The Lancers cut the lead to one point three times in overtime, but Huntington made its free-throws down the stretch to get the win.

"I can't ask anymore from our guys," head coach Jim Kessler said after the disappointing loss. "They played the game plan perfectly. I couldn't be more proud of them."

The game marked the second consecutive loss for the Lancers that came down to the final possession. Grace lost to then-No. 27 Marian 64-62 in the conference opener when the Lancers missed three shots in the final five seconds to tie the game. The loss to Huntington dropped the Lancers to 0-2 in the conference.

"Every conference game is a tough battle," Kessler said. "The sad thing is, we're two baskets away from being 2-0 in the toughest conference in the country."

Ben Tonagel led Grace with 16 points and added four rebounds. He now has 991 career points and could go over the 1,000-point barrier in the Lancers' next game. Bricker added 14 points, and Taylor had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.

Grace (9-11, 0-2 MCC) will host Bethel Thursday at 7 p.m. The Pilots are ranked No. 6 in the country but are 0-2 in the Mid-Central Conference and are reeling, having lost four of their last five games.

Bethel, however, has beaten Grace 14 consecutive times dating back to the 1992-93 season.

HUNTINGTON 75, GRACE 71 OT

Grace 29 33 9 - 71

Huntington 31 31 13 - 75

Grace - Matt Moore 3-7 5-5 11, Ryan Bricker 5-11 3-3 14, Lawrence Burnett 3-7 1-2 7, Ben Tonagel 6-15 0-0 16, Dan Scharlach 2-2 0-0 4, Shannon Brown 4-6 1-2 9, Teryck Taylor 3-8 4-5 10. Total 26-56 14-17 71.

Huntington - Brett Snodgrass 2-8 4-6 9, Brandon Holler 0-3 6-6 6, Dave Porter 4-10 1-3 11, Gabe LaGrange 10-21 3-7 23, Brodie Garber 6-11 4-4 18, Andy Kurzen 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Ferrell 1-2 0-0 3, WadeLeer 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Gaff 2-5 1-2 5. Totals - 25-62 19-28 75

Three-pointers - Grace 5-12 (Tonagel 4-9, Bricker 1-1, Moore 0-1, Burnett 0-1), Huntington 6-23 (Porter 2-6, Garber 2-7, Ferrell 1-1, Snodgrass 1-6, Holler 0-1, Kurzen 0-1, LaGrange 0-1). Rebounds - Grace 41 (Taylor 12), Huntington 35 (LaGrange 10). Personal fouls - Grace 19, Huntington 12. Fouled out - none. Turnovers - Grace 20, Huntington 10. [[In-content Ad]]