Turnovers Cost Grace In NCCAA Semis
March 17, 2017 at 3:53 p.m.
Turnovers Cost Grace In NCCAA Semis
By Dale [email protected]
The fifth-seeded Lancers certainly had chances to beat No. 1 seed Colorado Christian University in Thursday's semifinals, but 17 turnovers proved too costly in a 79-72 loss at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Advancing to Saturday's 2 p.m. title tilt against sixth-seeded Ohio Christian University, an 80-75 winner over No. 2 seed and defending champion Emmanuel College in Thursday's other semifinal, Colorado Christian committed just seven turnovers and turned Grace's 17 miscues into 21 points.
“They weren't forced turnovers, we were just careless with the ball,” said Grace coach Jim Kessler. “Honestly, I think I let them down. On our scouting, we didn't see that they zoned much, and they zoned us the entire game.
“They didn't want to have to deal with our inside game. Our inside guys, (Erik) Bowen and (Logan) Godfrey, were both stellar. They did a really nice job inside. We weren't quite patient enough to maneuver the ball in such a way that we could throw it inside adequately.
“We outrebounded them, that was one of our goals, but the 17 turnovers and the runouts just did us in. It was more than we could overcome. We stayed with it, we put ourselves back within one, but they made plays down the stretch. They have senior players, and they made plays like seniors do.”
Senior Dimitri Saliba led the Cougars with 23 points, while junior Ty McGee added 22.
Seniors Brett Brady and Jacob Taylor chipped in with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
Colorado Christian led 39-29 at halftime and quickly pushed its lead to 15 points early in the second half.
The Lancers rallied and got as close as 70-69 on a bucket by Godfrey with 2:20 remaining, but the Cougars responded with a 7-1 run and relegated Grace to a spot in Saturday's 10 a.m. third-place game against Emmanuel.
Tre Olive, one of only two seniors on Grace’s roster, led the Lancers with 21 points, while freshman Charlie Warner scored 16 points.
Sophomore Logan Godfrey finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 boards, while junior Stephen Halstead tallied 11 points and five assists, and junior Erik Bowen nine points and five rebounds.
In Ohio Christian’s 80-75 semifinal win over Emmanuel, Marquis Jackson led the way with 34 points, while Austin Marciniak and Rijnard Hartman scored 12 and 10 points respectively.
Zach Lillie and Emmerson McClung paced Emmanuel with 18 points each.
In men’s consolation bracket games Thursday, Dallas Baptist beat Life Pacific 83-72 and Central Baptist topped Hiwasee 83-75.
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The fifth-seeded Lancers certainly had chances to beat No. 1 seed Colorado Christian University in Thursday's semifinals, but 17 turnovers proved too costly in a 79-72 loss at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Advancing to Saturday's 2 p.m. title tilt against sixth-seeded Ohio Christian University, an 80-75 winner over No. 2 seed and defending champion Emmanuel College in Thursday's other semifinal, Colorado Christian committed just seven turnovers and turned Grace's 17 miscues into 21 points.
“They weren't forced turnovers, we were just careless with the ball,” said Grace coach Jim Kessler. “Honestly, I think I let them down. On our scouting, we didn't see that they zoned much, and they zoned us the entire game.
“They didn't want to have to deal with our inside game. Our inside guys, (Erik) Bowen and (Logan) Godfrey, were both stellar. They did a really nice job inside. We weren't quite patient enough to maneuver the ball in such a way that we could throw it inside adequately.
“We outrebounded them, that was one of our goals, but the 17 turnovers and the runouts just did us in. It was more than we could overcome. We stayed with it, we put ourselves back within one, but they made plays down the stretch. They have senior players, and they made plays like seniors do.”
Senior Dimitri Saliba led the Cougars with 23 points, while junior Ty McGee added 22.
Seniors Brett Brady and Jacob Taylor chipped in with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
Colorado Christian led 39-29 at halftime and quickly pushed its lead to 15 points early in the second half.
The Lancers rallied and got as close as 70-69 on a bucket by Godfrey with 2:20 remaining, but the Cougars responded with a 7-1 run and relegated Grace to a spot in Saturday's 10 a.m. third-place game against Emmanuel.
Tre Olive, one of only two seniors on Grace’s roster, led the Lancers with 21 points, while freshman Charlie Warner scored 16 points.
Sophomore Logan Godfrey finished with a double-double of 13 points and 13 boards, while junior Stephen Halstead tallied 11 points and five assists, and junior Erik Bowen nine points and five rebounds.
In Ohio Christian’s 80-75 semifinal win over Emmanuel, Marquis Jackson led the way with 34 points, while Austin Marciniak and Rijnard Hartman scored 12 and 10 points respectively.
Zach Lillie and Emmerson McClung paced Emmanuel with 18 points each.
In men’s consolation bracket games Thursday, Dallas Baptist beat Life Pacific 83-72 and Central Baptist topped Hiwasee 83-75.
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