Lancers Win Hoops For Hope Tournament
November 21, 2016 at 5:59 p.m.
Lancers Win Hoops For Hope Tournament
By Dale [email protected]
In the championship game of the Terry Polston Hoops For Hope Tournament Saturday at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, Halstead scored just six points. He was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe, including four big ones in the final 19 seconds that helped secure a 72-68 victory and improve the Lancers to 8-1 on the season. The Warriors fell to 10-1.
“He was just deadly at the line,” Grace College coach Jim Kessler said of Halstead, who attempted just two shots from the field against a Rochester College defense that was aimed at slowing him down after he scored 35 points Friday.
“He's a very good shooter. He had a terrific tournament. He's playing with confidence, and when your opponent focuses on a player that opens things up for other people. He didn't try and force things. He played within himself and accepted the fact that the pressure on him loosened things up for his teammates.”
The focus on Halstead opened things up for guys like sophomore Logan Godfrey, Halstead's high school teammate at Fort Wayne Snider, who scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting overall and a 6-of-6 effort at the free throw line.
Godfrey also pulled down eight rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team, as was junior Erik Bowen, who earned MVP honors with a double-double of 12 points and 13 boards.
Freshman Charlie Warner made 5 of 7 shot attempts, including both three-pointers he took, and finished with 12 points off the bench.
Junior Chad Hoffer, whose defense held all-american Angelo Griffis scoreless in the first half, chipped in with 10 points before fouling out late in the game.
Freshman Jaret Sons added seven points and seven boards off the bench, while freshman Braxton Linville scored five points and dished out nine assists. Linville tallied 22 assists in Grace's two wins over the weekend.
“If you look up and down the stat sheet, we had a number of guys play well,” said Kessler. “We had some freshman score some big points, and we had some older guys do some big things. I was thinking, who would you pick for your MVP? You could make a case for Stephen. You can make a case for Logan. You can make a case for Erik. There's several guys you could choose from ... just a good team win.”
The teams were knotted at 30-30 at halftime, and then Grace took control with a 20-3 run after the intermission.
Rochester College fought back and got within three, 68-65, when Justin Nafso converted a pair of free throw attempts.
Nafso had a chance to get the Warriors even closer, but his shot in the lane with 23 seconds remaining was off the mark, and Godfrey pulled down the rebound.
Halstead pushed Grace's advantage to 70-65 with a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left, and after Rochester's Cap Wilson swished a trey to make it 70-68 with 11 seconds left, Halstead accounted for the final score with two more charity tosses with nine seconds remaining.
Armand Cartwright led the Warriors with 16 points, while Jaylen Larry added 13 points and Griffis and Wilson chipped in with 12 each.
Grace Bible College won the consolation game 98-66 over Lincoln Christian University.
Joining Bowen and Godfrey on the all-tournament team were Larry and Griffis from Rochester College, as well as Grace Bible College's Jared Bradford and Lincoln Christian's Zach Thompson.
The Lancers have won four games in a row and look to extend that streak Tuesday when they open Crossroads League play with a road trip to second-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, the defending national champion.
Grace's last game at Luckey Arena in Marion resulted in a 91-80 win over the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 1 at the time. Indiana Wesleyan won 91-90 at the MOCC a month later.
“Indiana Wesleyan is a very solid team, they do a lot of things really well,” said Kessler. “They've picked the tempo up this year, and they're pushing it. They're not the perimeter shooting team they were last year. It's not that they can't shoot it, but when you graduate someone like Jonny Marlin, that's a big loss. He could get you points. He was their go-to guy.
“It'll be a challenge to us, but our young guys aren't intimidated by anyone. They won't back down, but Indiana Wesleyan on the road is always a challenge. We'll see what happens, we got 'em down there last time.”
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In the championship game of the Terry Polston Hoops For Hope Tournament Saturday at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, Halstead scored just six points. He was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe, including four big ones in the final 19 seconds that helped secure a 72-68 victory and improve the Lancers to 8-1 on the season. The Warriors fell to 10-1.
“He was just deadly at the line,” Grace College coach Jim Kessler said of Halstead, who attempted just two shots from the field against a Rochester College defense that was aimed at slowing him down after he scored 35 points Friday.
“He's a very good shooter. He had a terrific tournament. He's playing with confidence, and when your opponent focuses on a player that opens things up for other people. He didn't try and force things. He played within himself and accepted the fact that the pressure on him loosened things up for his teammates.”
The focus on Halstead opened things up for guys like sophomore Logan Godfrey, Halstead's high school teammate at Fort Wayne Snider, who scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting overall and a 6-of-6 effort at the free throw line.
Godfrey also pulled down eight rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team, as was junior Erik Bowen, who earned MVP honors with a double-double of 12 points and 13 boards.
Freshman Charlie Warner made 5 of 7 shot attempts, including both three-pointers he took, and finished with 12 points off the bench.
Junior Chad Hoffer, whose defense held all-american Angelo Griffis scoreless in the first half, chipped in with 10 points before fouling out late in the game.
Freshman Jaret Sons added seven points and seven boards off the bench, while freshman Braxton Linville scored five points and dished out nine assists. Linville tallied 22 assists in Grace's two wins over the weekend.
“If you look up and down the stat sheet, we had a number of guys play well,” said Kessler. “We had some freshman score some big points, and we had some older guys do some big things. I was thinking, who would you pick for your MVP? You could make a case for Stephen. You can make a case for Logan. You can make a case for Erik. There's several guys you could choose from ... just a good team win.”
The teams were knotted at 30-30 at halftime, and then Grace took control with a 20-3 run after the intermission.
Rochester College fought back and got within three, 68-65, when Justin Nafso converted a pair of free throw attempts.
Nafso had a chance to get the Warriors even closer, but his shot in the lane with 23 seconds remaining was off the mark, and Godfrey pulled down the rebound.
Halstead pushed Grace's advantage to 70-65 with a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left, and after Rochester's Cap Wilson swished a trey to make it 70-68 with 11 seconds left, Halstead accounted for the final score with two more charity tosses with nine seconds remaining.
Armand Cartwright led the Warriors with 16 points, while Jaylen Larry added 13 points and Griffis and Wilson chipped in with 12 each.
Grace Bible College won the consolation game 98-66 over Lincoln Christian University.
Joining Bowen and Godfrey on the all-tournament team were Larry and Griffis from Rochester College, as well as Grace Bible College's Jared Bradford and Lincoln Christian's Zach Thompson.
The Lancers have won four games in a row and look to extend that streak Tuesday when they open Crossroads League play with a road trip to second-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, the defending national champion.
Grace's last game at Luckey Arena in Marion resulted in a 91-80 win over the Wildcats, who were ranked No. 1 at the time. Indiana Wesleyan won 91-90 at the MOCC a month later.
“Indiana Wesleyan is a very solid team, they do a lot of things really well,” said Kessler. “They've picked the tempo up this year, and they're pushing it. They're not the perimeter shooting team they were last year. It's not that they can't shoot it, but when you graduate someone like Jonny Marlin, that's a big loss. He could get you points. He was their go-to guy.
“It'll be a challenge to us, but our young guys aren't intimidated by anyone. They won't back down, but Indiana Wesleyan on the road is always a challenge. We'll see what happens, we got 'em down there last time.”
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