Lancers Advance To NCCAA Final
Irwin's trey lifts Lancers to 65-62 win over Roberts Wesleyan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
Playing the sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks in the semifinal round of the NCCAA National Championships, the No. 7 seed Lancers got a three-pointer from sophomore Logan Irwin with 1.6 seconds remaining, lifting them to a 65-62 win.
Grace’s players and fans at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center went into a frenzied celebration, and they had reason to.
With the win, the Lancers (20-14) advanced to Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship game against fourth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene University.
Point Loma (17-11) advanced to the finals with a 68-54 win over No. 1 seed Southern Nazarene University.
A win Saturday would give the Lancers their first NCCAA national title in program history – they’ve been the runner-up four times – as well as give coach Jim Kessler his 700th career win.
“We have to play our style and keep attacking if we want to win,” said Kessler when asked about Saturday’s matchup. “Point Loma is a very athletic team. I don’t think our guys appreciate the level of talent in this tournament. There’s some good teams in this tournament.”
After Roberts Wesleyan freshman Jordan McBride hit a free throw to tie Thursday’s semifinal game at 62-62 with 23 seconds remaining, he missed his second attempt and Grace sophomore Brandon Vanderhegghen grabbed the rebounds.
The Lancers called a timeout with 12 seconds left and and Kessler drew up a play he called “Miami.”
The play is named for North Miami High School, where Grace senior standout Greg Miller is the all-time leading scorer.
Miller was the top option on the final play, a play in which a screen was to be set for the 6-foot-6 Miller.
The screen was there, but the Roberts Wesleyan defense didn’t allow Miller to get open, and with the seconds ticking away Irwin took things into his own hands, as the player with No. 3 on his jersey hit the biggest three-pointer of the game.
Irwin made all three treys he attempted, as he finished the game 7 of 11 from the field overall en route to scoring a game-high 18 points. He also dished out five assits.
Kessler may have envisioned a former North Miami star getting the best look at the game-winning basket, but it was the all-time leading scorer at another Three Rivers Conference school – Whitko – that became the hero.
“Logan’s three was huge,” said Kessler. “That wasn’t what we intended, but he stepped up and hit. I’m proud of him.”
Irwin, fresh off a 19-point, 8-assist performance against Colorado Christian Wednesday night, led a quartet of Lancers in double figures.
Senior Jared Treadway finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while junior Niko Read scored 12 points off the bench and Miller added 10 points and 11 boards.
Tyrel Dixon led Roberts Wesleyan with 14 points and nine rebounds, while William Bromirski and Kevin Madiamba scored 13 and 11 points, respectively.
For the first 35 minutes of Thursday’s 40-minute game, it was all about the Lancers.
Grace started the game on a 6-0 run and led 39-25 at halftime.
The Lancers held a 16-point advantage early in the second half, but, as Kessler said, stopped attacking.
The Redhawks cut the deficit to four, 56-52, on a three-point play from Madiamba with 5:14 remaining.
A rebound and bucket by Madiamba cut Grace’s lead to one, 57-56, with 3:37 to play.
A three-point play by Dixon gave the Redhawks their first lead of the game at 61-60 with 1:31 remaining.
Grace regained the lead at 62-61 with a pair of Caleb Featherston free throws with 1:08 on the clock.
“We stopped attacking,” said Kessler. “Four our offense to work, we have to attack, and we stopped doing that and Roberts Wesleyan got back in the game.”
GRACE COLLEGE 65, ROBERTS WESLEYAN 62
RW 25 37 – 62
Grace 39 26 – 65
RW – Jamaal Carter 1-3 1-2 3, Patrick Downer 3-9 1-2 7, William Bromirski 5-12 0-0 7, Isaac Medeiros 3-7 1-2 7, Tyrel Dixon 6-16 2-4 14, Aleks Miljenovich 0-1 0-2 0, Jordan McBride 2-3 1-2 7, Kevin Madiamba 4-8 3-3 11. Totals 24-59 9-17 62.
Grace – Logan Irwin 7-11 1-6 18, Caleb Featherston 1-6 3-5 5, Brandon Vanderhegghen 3-8 0-0 6, Greg Miller 3-10 4-5 10, Jared Treadway 5-10 4-5 14, Drew Perrin 0-0 0-0 0, Niko Read 3-7 3-3 12, Eric Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Sam Daniels 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 22-55 15-25 65.
Three-pointers – RW 5 (Bromirski 3, McBride 2), Grace 6 (Irwin 3, Read 3); Rebounds – RW 35 (Dixon 9), Grace 41 (Vanderhegghen 12); Turnovers – RW 11, Grace 15; Records: RW 14-14, Grace 20-14[[In-content Ad]]
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Playing the sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks in the semifinal round of the NCCAA National Championships, the No. 7 seed Lancers got a three-pointer from sophomore Logan Irwin with 1.6 seconds remaining, lifting them to a 65-62 win.
Grace’s players and fans at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center went into a frenzied celebration, and they had reason to.
With the win, the Lancers (20-14) advanced to Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship game against fourth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene University.
Point Loma (17-11) advanced to the finals with a 68-54 win over No. 1 seed Southern Nazarene University.
A win Saturday would give the Lancers their first NCCAA national title in program history – they’ve been the runner-up four times – as well as give coach Jim Kessler his 700th career win.
“We have to play our style and keep attacking if we want to win,” said Kessler when asked about Saturday’s matchup. “Point Loma is a very athletic team. I don’t think our guys appreciate the level of talent in this tournament. There’s some good teams in this tournament.”
After Roberts Wesleyan freshman Jordan McBride hit a free throw to tie Thursday’s semifinal game at 62-62 with 23 seconds remaining, he missed his second attempt and Grace sophomore Brandon Vanderhegghen grabbed the rebounds.
The Lancers called a timeout with 12 seconds left and and Kessler drew up a play he called “Miami.”
The play is named for North Miami High School, where Grace senior standout Greg Miller is the all-time leading scorer.
Miller was the top option on the final play, a play in which a screen was to be set for the 6-foot-6 Miller.
The screen was there, but the Roberts Wesleyan defense didn’t allow Miller to get open, and with the seconds ticking away Irwin took things into his own hands, as the player with No. 3 on his jersey hit the biggest three-pointer of the game.
Irwin made all three treys he attempted, as he finished the game 7 of 11 from the field overall en route to scoring a game-high 18 points. He also dished out five assits.
Kessler may have envisioned a former North Miami star getting the best look at the game-winning basket, but it was the all-time leading scorer at another Three Rivers Conference school – Whitko – that became the hero.
“Logan’s three was huge,” said Kessler. “That wasn’t what we intended, but he stepped up and hit. I’m proud of him.”
Irwin, fresh off a 19-point, 8-assist performance against Colorado Christian Wednesday night, led a quartet of Lancers in double figures.
Senior Jared Treadway finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while junior Niko Read scored 12 points off the bench and Miller added 10 points and 11 boards.
Tyrel Dixon led Roberts Wesleyan with 14 points and nine rebounds, while William Bromirski and Kevin Madiamba scored 13 and 11 points, respectively.
For the first 35 minutes of Thursday’s 40-minute game, it was all about the Lancers.
Grace started the game on a 6-0 run and led 39-25 at halftime.
The Lancers held a 16-point advantage early in the second half, but, as Kessler said, stopped attacking.
The Redhawks cut the deficit to four, 56-52, on a three-point play from Madiamba with 5:14 remaining.
A rebound and bucket by Madiamba cut Grace’s lead to one, 57-56, with 3:37 to play.
A three-point play by Dixon gave the Redhawks their first lead of the game at 61-60 with 1:31 remaining.
Grace regained the lead at 62-61 with a pair of Caleb Featherston free throws with 1:08 on the clock.
“We stopped attacking,” said Kessler. “Four our offense to work, we have to attack, and we stopped doing that and Roberts Wesleyan got back in the game.”
GRACE COLLEGE 65, ROBERTS WESLEYAN 62
RW 25 37 – 62
Grace 39 26 – 65
RW – Jamaal Carter 1-3 1-2 3, Patrick Downer 3-9 1-2 7, William Bromirski 5-12 0-0 7, Isaac Medeiros 3-7 1-2 7, Tyrel Dixon 6-16 2-4 14, Aleks Miljenovich 0-1 0-2 0, Jordan McBride 2-3 1-2 7, Kevin Madiamba 4-8 3-3 11. Totals 24-59 9-17 62.
Grace – Logan Irwin 7-11 1-6 18, Caleb Featherston 1-6 3-5 5, Brandon Vanderhegghen 3-8 0-0 6, Greg Miller 3-10 4-5 10, Jared Treadway 5-10 4-5 14, Drew Perrin 0-0 0-0 0, Niko Read 3-7 3-3 12, Eric Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Sam Daniels 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 22-55 15-25 65.
Three-pointers – RW 5 (Bromirski 3, McBride 2), Grace 6 (Irwin 3, Read 3); Rebounds – RW 35 (Dixon 9), Grace 41 (Vanderhegghen 12); Turnovers – RW 11, Grace 15; Records: RW 14-14, Grace 20-14[[In-content Ad]]
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