HUNTINGTON, Ind. - Grace’s men’s basketball team battled to a gritty come-from-behind win at No. 17 Huntington on Wednesday.
The No. 16 Lancers trailed by nine at halftime, but Grace outscored the Foresters by 13 in the second half to win 70-66.
Wednesday’s victory marks the third ranked victory for the Lancers (13-3, 5-1 Crossroads League).
Grace also sits in a tie for second place in the CL standings, one game behind league-leading Bethel. The Lancers and Pilots will square off in Winona Lake on Saturday when Grace hosts the rival Pilots at 3 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Ian Raasch was a standout performer on both sides of the floor. The rugged sophomore led all players with 20 points and 11 rebounds, all while playing hounding perimeter defense for 38 minutes. Raasch shot 8 of 10 from the floor and made all four of his free throws.
Grace won the game by using an elite defensive effort to cover up offensive miscues. The Foresters (12-4, 2-4 CL) were held to 39 percent shooting overall, including 2 of 20 (10 percent) on 3-pointers.
The Lancers were sluggish after the opening tipoff, turning the ball over five times in the first four minutes. But Grace’s defense was stout to keep the score close.
Grace’s ball control continued to be an issue, however, as Grace racked up nine turnovers (compared to zero for HU) over the first nine minutes.
The Foresters opened up a 20-10 lead after hitting a series of long jump shots.
Raasch did his best to fuel the Lancers’ offense. He poured in 11 first-half points, coming mostly in the paint, to bridge the gap.
Ian Scott also scored five points in a row for Grace, trimming the deficit to five.
Grace lost the ball three more times across the last two minutes, allowing HU to open up a nine-point edge at halftime (38-29).
Both teams shot the ball similarly in the half with the Lancers and Foresters each shooting 44 percent from the floor. Neither team shot the 3-point ball well, combining to hit just 1 of 21 between the teams.
But the Lancers were decimated by turnovers, losing the turnover battle 15-1 before halftime. The Foresters had a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Grace began to attack the paint to begin the second half, and the Lancers started to turn the tide.
The Lancers quickly scored nine straight points, including six points in a row from Raasch, to even the score at 40-40.
Grace’s bench continued the team’s momentum. Justin DeGraaf converted a driving layup, and Hunter Walston muscled in six points in a two-minute span. Walston’s last shot put the Lancers ahead 54-49 with 8:32 left, forcing a timeout from HU.
DeGraaf then stepped up down the stretch. He hit a trio of 3-pointers over the next four minutes to maintain the Lancers’ lead.
Scott took control during the final few minutes. The senior hit four free throws and banked in a clever left-handed layup, refusing to allow the Foresters to rally.
Grace scored on four of its final five possessions to lock up the road win. The Lancers had only four turnovers after halftime to help their cause.
Scott finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 1 blocked shot, and DeGraaf scored 14 points on 3 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc.
Brett Sickafoose (6 points, 4 rebounds), Walston (6 points, 5 rebounds), Gage Sefton (4 points, 4 boards) and Carter Stoltzfus (2 points, 3 assists) contributed in the scoring column.
The Lancers shot 45 percent from the field and 87 percent (20 of 23) from the free throw stripe. Grace also had a plus-10 advantage in rebounding and scored 22 second-chance points.

Lancers Unable To Overcome Slow Start
HUNTINGTON, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball team fell to the Huntington Foresters 79-65 on Wednesday night.
The Lancers (9-7, 2-4 Crossroads League) were outscored by 12 points in the first quarter and were unable to overcome the early deficit despite playing the Foresters nearly even the rest of the way.
“I was disappointed with the way we started the game,” Grace head coach Dan Davis commented. “You can’t dig yourself into a hole that big, especially on the road, and not expect it to cost you. We have struggled to be ready to play at the beginning of games this year and it was the difference again today.”
Morganne Houk had Grace’s first points of the contest on a contested drive to the basket but it was the Lancers’ only points through the first 4:57 of the game.
The Lancers trailed 9-2 before Maddy Poynter, who had just subbed in, connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe.
Poynter scored six straight points for the Lancers and Kensie Ryman added a late free throw but at the first quarter break the Foresters were leading 21-9.
Houk and Peyton Murphy each had quick scores to start the second but Huntington continued to pad their advantage, leading by 17 points by the midpoint of the second frame.
Grace responded when Ryman found her touch from beyond the arc and Murphy finished through contact on the Lancers’ next possession to cut the deficit down to 12 points.
A late score from Houk got the Lancers to as close as 11 points, but a timely Huntington trifecta had the Foresters on top 40-26 entering the half.
Grace shot 28 percent in the first half compared to Huntington’s 53 percent. The Foresters held a 22-16 rebound advantage.
Houk had an old-fashioned 3-point play to get Grace on the board in the second half, but again the Lancers’ offense went cold, going over four minutes without adding a point. The Foresters were unable to add to their lead however as Grace’s effort on the defensive end of the court held them scoreless for nearly the same time.
With three minutes left in the third quarter Huntington went on a mini run and pushed their advantage to 20 points.
Poynter and Marshall helped the Lancers end the frame on an 8-1 run and went into the final stanza trailing 55-40.
The Foresters hit a pair of 3-point field goals to start the fourth quarter and jumped out to their largest lead of the game at 21 points.
Marshall responded with a trifecta of her own and Emma Sperry and Murphy each scored to cut back into the deficit. Murphy added two more points from the free-throw line to pull Grace with 12 but they wouldn’t get any closer as they fell by a final score of 79-65.
“We settled too much on the offensive end and our scout defense was poor tonight,” Davis added. “We can’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows but we need to attack these games with urgency and that starts on Saturday.”
Grace finished the game shooting 34 percent while Huntington cooled down to 48 percent. The Foresters hit 11 3-point field goals compared to the Lancers’ three.
Poynter and Houk tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points apiece and Houk also led all players with nine rebounds. Murphy added 10 points.
Grace will return to action on Saturday for a home contest against Bethel at 1 p.m.