WINONA LAKE - As he has so many times in his career at Grace, it looked as if Andy Schmidt had saved a win for the Lancers again Tuesday night against Huntington College. However, the lead Schmidt gave Grace didn't hold up in the final minutes as the Foresters came from behind for a clutch 85-80 Mid-Central Conference win.

Tied at 72-72 with 4:45 to play, Schmidt scored back-to-back layups on drives through the lane to give the Lancers a 76-72 advantage with 3:13 to play. But Huntington got hot and made all of its free throws down the stretch to win a game in which Grace led almost the entire way.

Free throws were the downfall for the Lancers. Grace made just 16 of 23 (70 percent) while Huntington shot an amazing 27 of 30 (90 percent). Grace shot well from the field at 52 percent and outrebounded Huntington 33-24, but in close games free throws often win ball games.

The Lancers jumped out to an early 12-5 lead behind freshman Jeremy Swanson's seven points. Grace led 17-9 with 13:33 to play in the opening half when Huntington's Gabe LaGrange picked up his third foul of the game and went to the bench for the rest of the half. He leads the MCC in scoring and rebounding and was named MCC Player of the Week last week. So it looked as if the Lancers would finish off Huntington early.

But over the next 10 minutes, Grace would connect on just two field goal attempts and made just 4 of 8 free throws. That drought saw Huntington make a 12-point run and take a 31-25 lead late in the half.

The Lancers closed the half strong and were within three, 37-34, at the break.

Huntington scored the opening basket of the second half and then Grace went on a 12-2 run. During that stretch, LaGrange picked up his fourth foul and went back to the bench. Grace held the lead for the next 10 minutes, but could never get much breathing room. The Lancers largest lead of the half was just six points.

With 7:07 to play, Huntington's Matt Eberly connected on a pair of free throws to pull Huntington even at 68-68. The game teetered as both teams answered each other until Schmidt's layups gave the Lancers a four-point lead.

But LaGrange followed that by taking over with a three-pointer and a layup and Jeff Shepherd and Brandon Holler went 6 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final minute as the Foresters avenged an earlier 59-58 loss to Grace.

For Grace, it was a chance to move up to fifth in the MCC standings. Instead, the Lancers stay in seventh at 2-7 in the conference. Huntington moved to 4-5 in the conference after the win.

LaGrange ended the game with 14 points and six rebounds, way down from his 21.1 points and 8.9 rebounds on the year. Huntington's guards killed Grace. Jeff Shepherd scored 28 points, Eberly scored 20 and Brandon Holler added 16.

Grace was led by Schmidt. He scored 20 points, while Dan Scharlach and Swanson each scored 16. The Lancers will host Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday at 3 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]