WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace’s men’s basketball team led from start to finish in a 106-61 rout of Union in the NAIA Second Round.
The No. 1 Lancers (32-1) were dominant to win the Winona Lake Bracket, punching their ticket to Kansas City for the remainder of the NAIA National Championships.
Grace has now made it to Kansas City for the third straight season under head coach Scott Moore.
Grace will play on Thursday in the NAIA’s “Sweet Sixteen.” The Lancers, the overall No. 1 seed in the field, will take on fifth-seeded Northwestern (Iowa) in the round of 16. Northwestern is ranked No. 13 in the final NAIA poll.
The Lancers shot a sizzling 64 percent from the floor and made 59 percent from the 3-point line — one night after making just 1 of 13 on 3s.
Jakob Gibbs tied a career high with 28 points, doing so in just 21 minutes. Elijah Malone racked up 24 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Grace was determined to not lose its final home game of the season, completing a perfect 19-0 year at home at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The Lancers were electric in the first half in front of a standing-room only crowd. Grace made its first eight field goals, putting the Bulldogs into a hole they could not climb out of.

    Senior Elijah Malone of Grace takes a hard foul while going up for a shot in the first half. Photo by Gary Nieter

Jakob Gibbs scored seven points in the first four minutes, and Elijah Malone added seven as well.
Union was forced to call timeout three minutes into the game, but it did little to slow down the Lancers’ onslaught. Malone’s 3-pointer five minutes into the game put Grace ahead 21-4.
Grace continued to feast on a steady diet of fast breaks and post finishes. The smaller Bulldogs had no answer for Grace’s size.
With seven minutes to play, Grace had opened up a 20-point lead at 39-19.
The Lancers coasted into halftime with a sizable 58-31 lead.
Jakob Gibbs (21 points) and Malone (15 points) combined to score 36 points, outscoring the Bulldogs by themselves.
The Lancers made 20 of 28 from the floor (71 percent) in the half and 6 of 8 on 3s (75 percent). Union was held to 38 percent shooting.
Grace scored 28 points in the paint in the half and 20 fastbreak points.
The Lancers began the second half where they left off. Malone dunked on Grace’s first possession, Jakob Gibbs converted an and-1 on the next play, and Cade Gibbs followed that up with a dunk.
Midway through the second half, Gage Sefton scored four quick points; his final basket was an athletic dunk which put Grace ahead 87-47.
Sefton also put Grace above the century mark with a jumper with four minutes remaining.
Cole Beck put the finishing touches on Grace’s win with a crafty driving layup as the Lancers rolled to the 45-point win.
Jakob Gibbs shot 10 of 13 for his 28 points, adding five rebounds and an assist. Malone shot 8 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the 3-point line.
Jake Wadding scored all 10 of his points in the first half, chipping in four boards with three assists.
Cade Gibbs had nine points, and Sefton and Brett Sickafoose each scored eight.
Brucen Graber produced 9 assists, 3 boards and 2 points, Carter Stoltzfus had six assists and five rebounds, and Marcus Davidson had 3 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Ian Scott tallied 7 points, 6 boards and 2 assists, and Ian Raasch finished with five points and four boards.

Lady Lancers earn bid to NCCAA Tournament
WINONA LAKE - Grace College’s women’s basketball team will continue its championship chase at the 2024 NCCAA National Tournament.
The Lancers were selected as the No. 4 seed in the tournament after being selected as the Midwest Region representative. Grace will open the tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the fifth seeded Southwestern Christian Eagles.
The Eagles were selected to the tournament as the No. 5 seed after earning an at-large bid from the Central Region. Southwestern won the NCCAA national championship in 2022.
The Lancers are led by seniors Maddie Ryman and Kaylee Patton who will close out their decorated college careers at the conclusion of Grace’s tournament run.
Ryman and Patton have helped the Lancers rewrite the record books, leading Grace to its first ever NAIA National Tournament appearance and the most single-season wins in program history.
This will be the last edition of the NCCAA Tournament to be hosted at Grace College. Grace has acted as the host of the NCCAA National Championships since 2009.

Offensive outburst not enough at No. 21 Taylor
UPLAND, Ind. - Grace’s baseball doubleheader at No. 21 Taylor on Saturday afternoon was an offensive outburst. The teams combined for 49 hits, 42 runs and 9 home runs over 16 innings of play.
The Lancers mounted a late comeback in the opener, scoring seven runs in the final three innings. The rally came up short with the Trojans ahead 18-15 at the end.
Grace led early in game two, but for the second straight day Taylor squeaked out a win in the late innings 5-4.
Grant Hartley scored Grace’s first run with a long drive to left for his sixth home run of the season in the opener.
The Trojans matched with a home run in the bottom half and scored four more runs an inning later.
The Lancers were ready to respond. The first five batters of the fourth inning reached safely. With the bases loaded, Hartley added an RBI to his tally with a single. The ensuing error on the play allowed another run to score. After a hit by pitch, Sean Gannon provided more power with a grand slam to clear the bases. Cayden Calloway capped off the seven-run inning with an RBI single.
TU, however, roared back with 13 runs over the next three at-bats to seize control of the game.
Grace refused to go away by scoring seven runs of their own over the final three innings to get within three.
Two walks and a double loaded the bases again in the seventh. Addison Hickman earned an RBI on a hit by pitch and Gannon picked up his fifth RBI of the day with a single.
Patrick Danforth cleared the bases with one swing of the bat in the eighth inning, marking the second grand slam of the game for the visitors.
Grace added one final run in the last inning, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
The Lancers outhit the Trojans by one in the game. Six players recorded at least two hits. Gannon finished 3 for 6 with five RBIs and a run. Danforth added 2 hits, 2 runs, 4 RBIs and a walk.
The nightcap of the twin bill wasn’t as high scoring as the first game, but the Trojans came out on top again 5-4. The teams went stride for stride throughout.
Grace manufactured the first two runs of the game in the second frame. An RBI groundout produced the first run and a solo shot from Danforth plated the second.
Taylor had a rebuttal each time the Lancers put one on the board. After Grace pulled ahead by a run in the third, TU scored two unanswered to take a slight advantage.
The Lancers evened the score on a sacrifice fly from Austin Carr in inning number five. Maximo De Leon earned a walk and a failed pickoff attempt allowed him to get to third base before Carr’s sac fly.
The Trojans scored the decisive run in the bottom of the sixth with back to back singles and a defensive miscue that allowed the run to score from third.
The Lancers were unable to match in their final at-bat.
Etchison pitched 6.0 innings with four strikeouts, moving his career strikeouts total over the 200 mark.
Hartley, Danforth and Carr each produced a hit and an RBI.
The Lancers will conclude its four-game series at home against Mount Vernon on March 18. First pitch from Tom Roy - UPI Park will be at 1 p.m.