FORT WAYNE - It was the defensive stop that extended the season for the Grace College men's basketball team Wednesday night in the Mid-Central Conference Tournament first round against NAIA No. 16 and No. 2 seed St. Francis.

Leading 83-81 with 23 seconds to play, the Lancers inbounded the ball to Brian O'Dell, who threw an errant pass under the St. Francis basket to Cougar star Ben Meyer. But senior Ben Tonagel forced Meyer to attempt an off-balanced layup that missed and the Lancers went on for an 87-83 win.

The layup would have tied the game, but O'Dell and Chris Irwin combined to make 6 of 6 free-throws in the final 33 seconds of action to keep St. Francis four points behind.

"Our goal tonight was to play poised and aggressive," head coach Jim Kessler said after the game. "We had the energy tonight that hasn't been there to get on the boards and to get after loose balls."

In a game that was nip-and-tuck throughout, the Lancers dominated the boards 37-26. Neither team led by more than seven points the entire game and St. Francis held a slim 47-45 lead at the break.

The Lancers scored the first five points of the second half and led 64-57 with 11:50 to play after a Joe Saunders jumper. The Cougars quickly went on a 14-7 run to tie the game at 71-71 and the game teetered back and forth. Dan Scharlach and Matt Abernethy scored back-to-back layups to put the Lancers ahead 77-73, and Grace never led by less than two points the rest of the way.

"For our seniors, this is a sweet win," Kessler said. "We played heads-up basketball tonight."

Grace was led by the inside combination of Abernethy and Scharlach.

Abernethy ended with 23 points and 10 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting, while Scharlach finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting.

Tonagel and O'Dell each had 13 points for Grace, which shot 63 percent from

the floor for the game.

The Lancers advance to the second round of the MCC Tournament for the first

time since the 1992-93 season and will play at Huntington Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Foresters, seeded No. 6, have defeated Grace twice, winning 100-83 in

Lancer Gym and 95-77 at Huntington. St. Francis ends its season with a

record of 21-12. The Lancers improve to 12-21.

GRACE COLLEGE 87, SAINT FRANCIS 83

Grace 45 42 - 87

St. Francis 47 36 - 83

Grace -ÊChris Irwin 3-4 2-2 8, Corey Smith 0-0 0-0 0, *Brian O'Dell 3-3 4-4 13, Derric Isensee 2-2 0-0 4, *Matt Abernethy 10-13 3-4 23, *Matt Moore 1-3 1-4 3, Joe Saunders 2-4 0-0 4, *Ben Tonagel 5-10 1-1 13, Jeremy Wike 0-0 0-0 0, *Dan Scharlach 9-15 1-2 19, Jeremy Swanson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-55 12-17 87.

Saint Francis -Ê*Ryan Norfleet 6-11 7-7 19, Keith Roddy 1-1 0-1 2, Jontae James 1-2 2-2 4, Marcus Louden 3-5 0-0 9, *Ben Meyer 7-18 3-4 20, Scott Bolinger 2-2 0-0 4, Dave Baughman 0-2 2-2 2, *Jeremy Creigh 5-12 0-0 12, *Mitch Smith 2-8 7-9 11. Totals 27-61 21-25 83.

Three-point goals -ÊSaint Francis 8-24 (Meyer 3-11, Louden 3-5, Creigh 2-7, Norfleet 0-1), Grace 5-9 (O'Dell 3-3, Tonagel 2-5, Swanson 0-1). Turnovers -ÊGrace 10, Saint Francis 5. Rebounds - Grace 36 (Abernethy 10, Scharlach 7), Saint Francis 25 (Bolinger 6, Smith 5). Assists -ÊGrace 25 (Moore 8, O'Dell 5), Saint Francis 15 (Norfleet 5). Steals - Grace 3 (Abernethy, Saunders, Smith), Saint Francis 3 (Meyer 2). Total fouls - Grace 25, Saint Francis 19. Fouled out - none. [[In-content Ad]]