The 2023-24 season has been filled with plenty of highs for the Grace men’s basketball team. The Lancers had lost just once this season opposed to 29 wins coming into Tuesday night’s championship game for the Crossroads League Conference tournament. In that title game, the Lancers left no doubt as to who the league’s top dog was, handling Indiana Wesleyan 101-80 to make it an even 30 wins on the year as well as continuing their reign as kings of the conference.
The game started off as a highly contested one, with both teams getting into an offensive groove early on and staying there for the remainder of the first five minutes. The Lancers began the contest with fantastic ball movement, with four Grace players scoring the first four buckets for the home team. The most memorable of the early buckets were the first two points scored by Lancer superstar senior Elijah Malone, which came on a thunderous poster dunk. At the first media timeout, Grace was up by just two at 11-9.
It wouldn’t be much long after that first break in action when the Lancers would begin to find some separation. The first big Grace run of the game would take place right here, and it would come off of the Lancers’ fantastic three-point shooting. The home team made eight threes in the first 20 minutes on 16 attempts, good enough for 50%. This stretch here would see the Lancers make a good chunk of them, with former Whitko standout Brett Sickafoose getting it started with a massive four-point play.
He'd be just the first to get in on the fun, as Gage Sefton, Malone and Carter Stoltfus all hit shots from deep on back-to-back-to back possessions. With the defense beginning to string more stops together on the other end as well, Grace was able to extend its lead to double digits, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
But the lead didn’t just remain over double digits, it would expand rapidly. The Lancers were getting everything they wanted offensively, and it didn’t matter who was taking the shot. Malone continued to bully defenders down low for easy points. Cade Gibbs and Ian Scott would each get into a rhythm in the latter portion of the first half, scoring nine and seven points in the first 20 minutes respectively. On the other hand, Wesleyan was beginning to struggle mightily after its hot start, and besides being able to get to the free throw line at will with some aggressive play, the Wildcats were not doing enough to keep up with the surging Lancers.
Before long, the lead had grown well over 20. At times near the end of the first half, it reached and exceeded 30 points. After the game’s initial 20 minutes were up, Grace found itself comfortably up by 28 points.

    With authority, senior Elijah Malone of Grace slams the ball through the net during Tuesday night's game against Indiana Wesleyan. Photo by Gary Nieter

Needing something fast in order to have a fighter’s chance, the Wildcats got off to a great start in the second half, outscoring Grace 9-2 over the first three minutes to get back to within 21. The run was quickly halted by a pair of three pointers by Gibbs, who became the second Lancer to reach double figures on the first long ball. At the under-five mark, Grace was still holding on strong to a 23-point advantage.
Gibbs, as well as senior Jake Wadding, continued to lead the Lancer offense as the ten-minute mark approached. While Grace was not as efficient scoring the ball as it was in the first half, the home side was able to do enough to stay in front comfortably and not allow Wesleyan to creep its way back into the contest. While the Wildcats had gotten close on multiple occasions, they were not yet able to get the deficit under 20.
That remained the case as the two sides reached the final media timeout of the evening. Foul trouble that began to hurt the Wildcats in the first half began to rear its ugly head once again here, as three different Wesleyan players fouled out in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Lancers had no problem staying in front at the free throw line, and that’s exactly what they did. Grace was feasting at the charity stripe and staying up big because of it.
The final five minutes of the game were merely a formality, with the result being decided long ago. It did have some memorable moments though, like a vicious alley-oop to Malone followed by a standing ovation as he was stubbed out of the game. The crowd also rose to its feet when Grace’s third senior, Cole Beck, checked into the game with a minute and a half left. Another loud cheer came when Wesleyan guard and former Warsaw star Jaxson Gould checked in for the final minute. Neither player would score. The Lancers would run out the clock for the final 25 seconds and celebrated a Crossroads League Tournament title.
Malone led Grace with 25 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Gibbs added 21 points and eight boards as well. Wadding had 13, Scott added 12, while Sickafoose ended his night with 10.
The Lancers will be back in action Friday, March 15 for the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. The first two rounds will be held at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, with Grace finding out their opponent when the bracket is announced Thursday.