WINONA LAKE -ÊWhen two closely matched rivals meet, there are only a few things a person may count on: the sell out crowd, the intensity of the players, and the fact that only one team will walk away victorious.

Saturday proved to be no exception, when the men's basketball team of Grace College hosted the Bethel Pilots in a heated competition that eventually ended with Grace on top by a score of 92- 80 in overtime.

Earlier on in the season, the two teams collided at Bethel, where the Pilots walked away with a decisive victory. The two teams have built up a legacy of sorts over the years.

Before Saturday's match up, the two teams had gone head to head a total of 93 times, with the Lancers coming out just in front of the Pilots, leading the series 47-46.

Now, after the victory this weekend, the Lancers take another step forward and the series sits at 48-46.

Senior Matt Abernethy provided this insight on the rivalry between the two teams, "I know the guys on Bethel. It's always fierce competition, but it's a competition with friends."

With 27 points on the night, Abernathy moved into 6th place for career points at Grace.

From beginning to end, the game was played with unprecedented intensity. The lead changed a total of nine times in the first half before a surge led by the Lancers, and answered by the Pilots, left the score at 39-38 as the teams headed to the locker room.

Both teams took the floor again with a singular purpose-to leave the court with a victory against their closest rival. The Lancers seemed to be in good position, leading by 10 with 4:28 to go, but great pressure by the pilots produced immediate results, and they began to close the gap.

Great dribble penetration by the Pilots, a total of 25 turnovers by the end of the night by the Lancers, and three of the five Grace starters fouling out contributed to the Pilots being able to overcome a 10-point deficit.

With 32 seconds to go, David Keister of Bethel made two clutch free throws to tie the game at 75 a piece. The Lancers would have the final opportunity to put the game away, but great hustle by the Pilots left the game tied, and the two teams were headed to overtime.

In overtime, great play off the bench both prompted and secured the victory for the Lancers, as they dominated their opponent by a margin of 12 points. With five guys fouling out, including three forwards, the Lancers were forced to adapt to an untraditional line.

As Abernethy put it, "We fouled out five guys, Lee Compson, J.P. Bowers, and Jeff Hamstra stepped up and filled their role of the team. That's how teams win ball games, by different people stepping up."

Grace College head coach Jim Kessler also pointed out the importance of the entire team in the victory, "Great team effort; great play off the deep bench. That's how we won, guys coming of the bench with confidence and coming up big."

Kessler also attributed the victory to good defensive rebounding and the team keeping composure even when calls did not go their way.

Grace moves into a shared third place spot in the MCC with the victory, improving to a 6-4 conference record, and an 18-8 overall record; while Bethel's record changes to 5-5 in the MCC and 18-10 overall. [[In-content Ad]]