UPLAND, Ind. - Grace’s men's basketball team conquered its 23rd straight game on Wednesday with an 83-63 win at Taylor.
The indomitable Lancers (23-0, 13-0 Crossroads League) used another balanced approach to vanquish the Trojans, securing the season sweep of TU (9-14, 4-9 CL).
No player for Grace saw more than 24 minutes of action; 11 players for Grace registered a point in the scoring column.
The first half was largely defined by Grace’s defense.
The Trojans got on the scoreboard first with a basket in the opening minute. But Grace’s defense silenced Taylor for the next several minutes.
TU was held without a point for nearly six minutes, allowing Grace to rattle off 18 straight points. Jakob Gibbs and Cade Gibbs both had five points during the charge, and Elijah Malone had a dunk and a triple to put Grace ahead 18-2.
A trio of foul shots from Ian Raasch lifted the Lancers to a 24-8 lead midway through the first half.
Taylor managed to pull within 10 points of Grace’s lead on a few occasions, but each time Grace had a response.
Triples in the final minutes from Jakob Gibbs, Jake Wadding and Graber helped Grace maintain its lead. Taylor swished a 3-pointer of its own in the waning seconds of the half, trimming Grace’s lead to 40-32 as the game reached halftime.
Grace only committed three turnovers in the half, and Grace shot 47 percent from the floor compared to 42 percent for TU. But Grace struggled from the free throw line, hitting only 5 of 11.
The Lancers began the second half with style. Malone made a nifty behind-the-back pass to Cade Gibbs for a layup on Grace’s first possession.
Cade Gibbs was a constant threat for Grace in attack. He scored seven points over the first five minutes to build the Lancers’ cushion.
An and-1 from Malone lifted Grace to a 14-point lead. Carter Stoltzfus pushed Grace’s lead to 65-42 with 11 minutes to play, but the Lancers’ assault only continued.
Gage Sefton rattled off five straight points, and Ian Scott finished off an alley-oop from Graber to climb ahead by 27 at 74-47.
Grace began to empty its bench midway through the half, and the Trojans were unable to make a dent in Grace’s lead.
The Lancers led by at least 20 for the final 12:02 of regulation, easing away for the 20-point win.
Grace finished the game shooting 46 percent on 3-pointers; they also made all nine of their free throws after halftime.
Cade Gibbs led Grace with 14 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes. Jakob Gibbs made 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, scoring 13.
Malone notched 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots, and Scott had 10 points, 5 boards and 2 steals.
Graber finished with 6 points, 7 boards and 4 assists, Wadding had 3 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, and Sefton finished with eight points.
Raasch scored seven points in nine minutes off the bench, and Sickafoose (5 points), Stoltzfus (3 points) and Caleb Herrold (2 points) also contributed to Grace’s scoring.
Wednesday’s win concludes a long stretch of road games for Grace; five of the past six games for Grace have been away from home.
The Lancers are back home again on Saturday for a doubleheader against Goshen. The women’s game will begin at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 p.m.

Lady Lancers Falter Late Against Trojans
UPLAND, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball was unable to come away with a road victory over Taylor, dropping a 57-52 decision to the Trojans on Wednesday night.
The Lancers (11-12, 6-7 Crossroads League) held a double-digit point lead in the second half but faltered late as the Trojans ultimately pulled away for the victory.
The Trojans (10-13, 5-8 CL) opened the scoring with the first four points of the game and as the game entered the midpoint of the first quarter Taylor widened the lead to 8-2.
Maddie Ryman and Peyton Murphy cut the deficit down to two points, but the Trojans answered with a trifecta on their ensuing possession to re-establish a five-point margin at 13-8.
The Lancers closed the first quarter on a mini 4-0 run as Ryman and Molly Long each connected on jump shots to pull Grace within a single point entering the quarter break.
Grace would enjoy their first lead of the contest just 30 second into the second frame as Ryman continued her efficient showing from the floor with a successful layup.
The Lancers and Trojans swapped the lead back and forth before an old-fashioned 3-point play from Morganne Houk edged Grace ahead 19-15.
Taylor battled their back even at 23 apiece, but Grace closed the half with six unanswered points to enter the break with a 29-23 lead.
Grace effectively applied pressure defensively to force Taylor into 12 first half turnovers. The Lancers shot an even 50 percent in the opening half while holding the Trojans 38 percent.
The Trojans scored first in the second half but offensively Grace picked up where it left off in the first half as they rattled off six straight points to push their advantage to 10 points.
Taylor trimmed the Grace lead down to five points before Kensie Ryman and Murphy each converted shots which were followed by a 3-pointer from Morganne Houk which gave Grace its biggest lead of the game at 42-30.
Following the Houk trifecta, the Lancers went nearly seven-minutes of game action before scoring again. Taylor took full advantage of the Grace drought to go on a 13-0 run to recapture the lead at 43-42.
Kate Rulli broke the scoreless stretch for Grace with a basket that was immediately matched by Taylor.
With 4:23 left in the game Maddie Ryman assisted on a Kensie Ryman 3-point shot that vaulted Grace back into the lead. The Lancers then forced the Trojans into a turnover and Rulli capitalized on the miscue with another score in the paint to give Grace a 49-46 advantage.
The lead would not last however, as Taylor closed the game scoring 11 of the contest’s final 14 points to claim the 57-52 victory.
Grace finished the game shooting 38 percent from the floor while Taylor upped their percentage from their halftime mark to 46 percent. The Lancers held a 32-24 advantage on points in the paint and a narrow 32-21 lead on the boards.
Grace committed five less turnovers than Taylor and had seven more points scored off of turnovers.
Maddie Ryman led all Grace players with 19 points. Murphy doubled-doubled with 10 points and 11 rebounds while also adding four assists and two steals.
Grace will return home from a matchup against Goshen at 1 p.m. on Saturday.