WINONA LAKE - In the illustrious history of Grace’s men’s basketball team, the Lancers have never won their first 14 games.
Until Wednesday night, that is.
The No. 1-ranked Lancers improved to 14-0 with a dominant 104-76 win over Taylor. Grace cemented its best start to a season, beating last year’s squad and the 1991-92 season who each started the year 13-0.
Grace sits alone atop the Crossroads League season with a 14-0 record and are the lone 4-0 team in the league standings.
The Lancers overwhelmed the Trojans (5-9, 0-4 CL) with the team’s intensity on the defensive end and an unending assault at the rim on offense.
The game was played evenly for the first nine minutes of action with Grace holding a slight 16-15 edge.
Grace’s second unit began to turn the tide with an array of shotmaking and defensive pressure.
The Lancers rattled off 11 straight points in a two-minute span to open up a 12-point cushion. Grace never lost its double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.
Brycen Graber was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half. He began the game by making back-to-back 3-pointers, doing so while battling an injury which left his mouth bleeding.
Graber continued his remarkable shooting, rattling off several 3s and a dazzling, driving layup in transition while being fouled.
Graber amassed 20 points in the first half – a career-high for a game. He made all five of his 3-pointers, adding 3 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers.
Grace ended the half with another charge. The Lancers used a 17-4 run to further boost the home team. Graber and Gage Sefton took turns hitting 3-pointers, hitting triples on four straight possessions.
The Lancers shot a sizzling 67 percent from the floor and ran away to a 54-29 lead at halftime.
The Trojans struggled to generate offense against Grace’s relentless defense. Taylor shot 44 percent from the floor and committed 13 turnovers.
Graber (20 points) and Sefton (14 points) highlighted Grace’s offense in the half. Jake Wadding also scored eight points in the first seven minutes of the game, capped off by a driving dunk in traffic.
It took Grace just three minutes of action in the second half to expand its lead to 30. Elijah Malone was a force to begin the half. He scored an and-1, made a 3-pointer and threw down a dunk in the span of 138 seconds.
Overall, he scored 15 points in the first seven minutes of the second half before being subbed out for the rest of the game.
Grace’s lead hovered around 30 until the final buzzer, despite the Lancers emptying their bench. Eleven players scored in the game for Grace.
Graber finished with a career-high 24 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds in 22 minutes. Sefton also scored a career-best 22 points with a trio of 3-pointers, adding five rebounds.
Malone had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 17 minutes, and Wadding had 11 points, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
Ian Scott racked up 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, Carter Stoltzfus had four points and three rebounds, Jakob Gibbs tacked on 6 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds, and Cade Gibbs had 5 points, 4 boards and 1 blocked shot.
Grace has now won 27 of its past 28 games under head coach Scott Moore.
The Lancers will hit the road on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game at Goshen. Grace returns home on Jan. 10 for a matchup with Huntington, a rematch of last year’s Crossroads League Tournament championship.

Ryman Scores 2,000th Point In Grace’s Win Over Taylor
WINONA LAKE - The record book continues to be rewritten for Grace women’s basketball after a 82-65 win over Taylor on Wednesday night.
During the Crossroads League clash, Maddie Ryman once again etched her name in Lancer lore as she became the first player in program history to score 2,000 career points. Ryman is the 12th player in Crossroads League to ever top 2,000 points.
Ryman’s historic night included a season high 30 points as she led the Lancers to a 17-point victory over the Trojans.
Grace and Taylor traded buckets to start the game, but after four straight points from Kaylee Patton the Lancers held a 10-6 lead at the midpoint of the quarter.
Taylor pushed ahead late in the stanza but a last second layup from Peyton Murphy gave Grace a 14-13 advantage at the quarter break.
The second quarter started with a 9-3 run from the Lancers. Seven of those points came courtesy of Ryman who scored her 2,000th point during that stretch.
The second quarter saw both teams go red hot from the field, both connecting on better than 60 percent of their field goals. The Lancers took advantage of perfect shooting from the charity stripe to push their lead to nine points at the halftime intermission.
Ryman had 16 points in the first half, 14 of which came in the game’s second quarter.
Morganne Houk pushed Grace lead to double digits on the Lancers’ first possession of the second half and one possession later Patton converted a layup that saw the lead reach 13 points.
Over the next four minutes of action the Trojans showed their fight as they clawed back with four points at 46-42.
The Taylor run was halted by seniors Patton and Ryman who showed their veteran leadership as they scored Grace’s final 10 points of the frame and sent the game into the final quarter with Grace ahead 56-45.
The Lancers used steady offense in the fourth quarter to ice the game away. All 11 players saw action while Grace shot 69 percent from the field and committed a solo turnover.
Ryman continued to be the offensive catalyst for Grace in the final frame as she added nine more points to push her total to a game high of 30 points.
Lily Moore converted a final free throw to push the final line to 82-65 in favor of Grace.
“We did a good job of playing a consistent 40 minutes today,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “I thought we did a good job of defending and rebounding against a good team. We are going to keep trying and get a little bit better each day and look forward to heading to Goshen on Saturday.”
The Lancers out shot the Trojans 53 percent to 42 percent and held a 33-28 rebound advantage.
After shooting 28 percent in the opening quarter the Lancer 58 percent or better in the final three quarters.
In addition to her game high 30 points, Ryman also added seven rebounds and four steals. Patton also had an impressive showing with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
Bekah Marshall scored 12 points and Peyton Murphy grabbed 10 rebounds.
Grace will return to action on Saturday for a 1pm showdown at Goshen.