FORT WAYNE, Ind. - For the second consecutive season, Grace’s men’s basketball team battled its way to the Crossroads League regular season championship.
The Lancers clinched the title courtesy of a 103-79 win at St. Francis on Wednesday.
The win gives Grace an automatic bid to the 2024 NAIA National Championships and the No. 1 seed in next week’s CL Tournament.
Grace owns the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed, and the Lancers can guarantee sole ownership of the regular season crown with a win on Saturday.
Grace will end the regular season on Saturday against Mt. Vernon Nazarene with a doubleheader at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The women will tip off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 p.m. Saturday will also be Senior Day to honor Grace’s graduating class.
Grace began the game with aggressive intent. The NAIA No. 1-ranked Lancers (26-1, 16-1 CL) used a pair of early 3-pointers to climb ahead 8-1 in the opening two minutes.
Jakob Gibbs then ripped off nine points in the span of 2:12; his 3-pointer gave Grace a 19-9 lead just over five minutes into the contest.
The Lancers’ offense was just getting warmed up. Elijah Malone scored four straight points to push Grace’s lead to 18.
Carter Stoltzfus canned a pair of quick triples, and a driving score from Ian Raasch lifted Grace to a stunning 41-15 lead.
The Cougars (13-14, 6-11 CL) then showed signs of life. The home team made a trio of 3s to spark a 15-4 run.
But Grace’s lead was never fully in question in the half. The Lancers limited USF to just two more points over the final 5:05.
Grace scored on six of its final nine possessions, waltzing into halftime with a dominant 58-32 lead.
The Lancers shot a sizzling 62 percent from the floor and 47 percent on 3-pointers. Grace swatted five shots and doubled USF in rebounds (24 to 12).
Jakob Gibbs enjoyed 17 first-half points, and Malone had 11 points and six boards.
Grace picked up where it left off to start the second half. Malone scored five points in the first 94 seconds, and a dunk from Jake Wadding handed Grace a 30-point lead.
Cade Gibbs enjoyed an eruption of offense, pouring in 11 points in less than four minutes to keep the Lancers comfortably ahead.
With more than 12 minutes left in the game, Grace had removed its starting lineup.
Grace’s second unit continued to maintain the 30-point cushion.
Grace broke the 100-point mark on a deep 3-pointer from Marcus Davidson with 3:57 left in the game. The Lancers coasted to the final 103-79 victory to lock up the conference title.
Overall, 10 players for Grace played between 16 and 23 minutes, and 11 Lancers registered a point.
Cade Gibbs and Jakob Gibbs each finished with 17 points. Cade shot 8 of 10, adding five boards and two steals in 20 minutes. Jakob shot 7 of 11 from the floor.
Malone tallied 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in 20 minutes, and Wadding added 11 points and six boards.
Stoltzfus and Brett Sickafoose each made three 3-pointers, Raasch tallied 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Ian Scott and Gage Sefton both scored six.
The Lancers finished the game shooting 58 percent from the floor and 48 percent from the 3-point line. The Cougars were held to 34 percent shooting and were outrebounded 43-27.
Malone’s four blocks ties him with Eric Gaff for the most career blocks in a Lancer uniform (288 blocks).

Ryman Sets Assist Record Vs Cougars
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball team had another record tumble in Wednesday’s contest against St. Francis.
Maddie recorded her 407th career assist in the game to become the program's career-leader in that category. Ryman passed her mom (Nicole Ryman) who was the previous record holder.
Ryman also added 13 points in the Crossroads League tilt, but it was not enough as Grace fell just short of completing the season of St. Francis after relinquishing the lead in the waning minutes of the Wednesday night affair and falling 54-50.
The Lancers (13-14, 8-9 Crossroads League) will conclude the regular season portion of their schedule on Saturday against Mt. Vernon before turning their attention to the Crossroads League tournament. Grace will earn a fifth or sixth seed in the conference tournament, pending Saturday’s results
Grace seniors Maddie Ryman and Kaylee Patton will be honored following Saturday’s contest.
Grace was first on the scoreboard on Wednesday night thanks to Peyton Murphy, but Grace struggled to shoot the ball, including going 1-4 from charity stripe, which allowed USF to jump out to a 10-3 lead.
Scores from Maddie Ryman, Kaylee Patton and Morganne Houk, helped cut the deficit down to a single point before the Cougars responded with a trifecta and a driving layup to establish a multiple possession lead.
Patton’s second bucket of the game was also the last of the quarter which pulled Grace to within 15-12 entering the quarter break.
The Cougars shot an efficient percentage in the opening stanza but began to be undone by a plethora of turnovers, a trend which continued in the second quarter.
USF had turnovers on each of its first two possessions and Kate Rulli scored four unanswered points to give Grace a 16-15 advantage.
The lead was swapped multiple times over the middle portions of the quarter as Rulli continued to find success in the paint to help the Lancers keep pace with USF.
Patton put Grace ahead by two points before a 3-point shot from the Cougars edged them back ahead with two minutes left in the half.
Grace would enter the halftime break leading 23-22 after a last second score from Murphy recaptured the lead for the Lancers.
Despite being out shot 45 percent to 32 percent, the Lancers led at the half in large part because of ball security. Grace turned the ball over just four times compared to 14 turnovers from the Cougars.
As the second half got underway, the Lancers extended their lead to six. Ryman started the quarter with a trifecta and had her record breaking assist on a Patton layup on the next possession.
Grace was unable to maintain the six-point cushion however, as the Cougars shot a blistering 67 percent in the quarter.
The Cougars threatened to take a lead into the final quarter of play after vaulting into the lead late in the third quarter. Ryman answered back for Grace with an acrobatic layup and a free throw to give Grace a 36-34 lead entering the final quarter.
The fourth stanza was a back-and-forth struggle featuring nine lead changes.
The Lancers held a two-point edge with five minutes left before the Cougars found their touch from range to jump ahead 42-41.
With just 1:12 left in the frame, USF again had a timely trifecta that pushed their lead to four points. Ryman answered back on the next possession for Grace to pull back with a point but the Lancers were unable to even the score and ultimately fell 54-50.
“The effort tonight was unbelievable,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “I thought we had to overcome some things late that were outside of our control and ultimately we came up a little short.”
Grace finished the game shooting 39 percent while USF hit on 51 percent of their tries. The Lancers turned the ball just nine times compared to the Cougars 21.
Patton led Grace with 14 points while also chipping in four assists and three rebounds. Rulli added 11 points and Murphy had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 points.