WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The Crossroads League season could not have started any better for Grace’s men’s basketball team on Wednesday.
The Lancers routed Marian 98-62 at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Grace’s defense held Marian to 21 points below their season average; the Knights shot just 36 percent from the floor compared to Grace’s 57 percent.
Ian Raasch scored a game-high 20 points with four rebounds and two steals, and 10 players scored for Grace overall.
To start Wednesday’s game, Gage Sefton helped Grace find its offense with four quick points.
Brett Sickafoose then canned a pair of 3-pointers in two minutes, forcing Marian to burn an early timeout.
Seven minutes into the game, Grace ripped off nine straight points to open up a 21-11 lead. Carter Stoltzfus hit a triple during the spurt.
A few minutes later, Grace scored another nine unanswered points to push the lead to 33-17. Threes from Brycen Graber and Justin DeGraaf keyed the run.
The Lancers charged into halftime with a resounding 45-26 lead. Grace shot 55 percent from the floor while holding Marian to 30 percent, including 2 of 12 from the 3-point line.
Grace grabbed an even firmer grip on the game to kick off the second half.
The Lancers erupted with a 20-2 run to stun the Knights. Back-to-back layups from Raasch capped off the run, and Grace found itself firmly ahead by 37 (69-32) with 12:53 remaining.
Grace pushed its lead to 39 a minute later after a triple by DeGraaf.
The Lancers kept their lead over 30 for the final 14:41, and Grace removed its starting lineup for the last several minutes.
Marcus Davidson provided an offensive eruption off the bench, canning a trio of 3s over the last five minutes.
Grace outrebounded Marian by 16. The Lancers also canned a season-high 14 triples, connecting on 42 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Ian Scott tallied a double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, and Graber had 12 points, 5 assists and 4 boards.
Hunter Walston notched 10 points with five boards, DeGraaf hit three 3-pointers for nine points, and Sefton ended with 8 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds.
Stoltzfus amassed 5 points, 4 assists and 4 boards, Davidson had nine points, and Cannon Houser scored five.
The Lancers end the week on the road on Saturday, playing at No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan at 3 p.m.

Lady Lancers Drop First Of The Season Against Knights
WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball team saw its five-game game winning streak come to an end against Mo. 19 Marian on Wednesday night.
The Lancers (5-1, 0-1 Crossroads League) lost 85-66 in the Crossroads League opener, to taste their first defeat of the 2024-season.
Grace got off to a sluggish start on Wednesday, shooting just 25 percent from the floor in the opening quarter and found themselves down nine points just four minutes into the game.
Pey Murphy and Sopia Morrison both converted shots from the charity stripe and Morrison added a trifecta to cut the lead down to 14-12 but a six-point run from Marian (6-1, 1-0 CL) saw grace trailing by eight at the quarter break.
Marian continued to feed Abbey McNally who exploded for 30 first-half points, and helped the Knights grow their lead to 18 points early in the second frame.
The Lancers found their footing towards the middle of the quarter as they slowly chipped away at the deficit. Kensie Ryman had a pair of 3-point field goals and Morganne Houk added another shot from beyond the arc to close the gap down the eight. At the halftime intermission Grace trailed 42-31.
Ryman led Grace with nine first half points while shooting an impressive 3-4 from beyond the arc. Murphy grabbed seven rebounds in the opening half.
The Lancers continued to inch closer as the second half got underway.
Grace found success from the free throw line early in the third quarter as they converted on 7-8 to cut the Knights lead down to six points with five minutes left in the quarter.
Marian converted an old-fashioned three-point play which was immediately answered by a trifecta from Houk. The Knights then pushed their lead to 10 points and this time it was Ryman who answered with a shot from range.
Grace was down seven with 3:14 left in the third quarter, but their offensive firepower had run out. Marian closed out the frame on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 65-50 heading into the final quarter.
Houk had a trifecta on Grace’s first possession in the fourth quarter to get them within 12 points but it was as close as they would get.
The Knights would lead by as many as 23 points before ultimately winning 85-66.
“We didn’t get off to a good start and it's really hard to play from behind against a really good team,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “We cut the lead to six in the third quarter but we failed to do the little things down the stretch that would have given us a chance to win. Lots of things we can learn from the film on this game which will help us get better for Saturday.”
Houk led Grace with 25 points and Murphy narrowly missed a double double with 13 rebounds and seven points. Ryman added 14 points.
Marian shot 58 percent from the floor while Grace hit at a 35 percent clip. The Lancers were outscored by 44 points in the paint.
The Lancers will be back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday against No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan.