KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A gritty, physical performance lifted Grace’s men’s basketball team past St. Mary-of-the-Woods on Thursday in the NAIA’s Round of 16.
The No. 2 seeded Lancers (29-5) won their ninth straight game, using two sparkling performances from Ian Raasch and Ian Scott to dispatch of the 11th seeded Pomeroys (28-6).
Raasch was unstoppable on offense. He amassed 27 points on 11 of 13 shooting, adding five rebounds and two assists. On defense, he held SMWC’s top scorer to 14 points on 6 of 19 shooting.
Scott stuffed the stat sheet. He produced 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Grace will play in the national quarterfinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Eastern) against top-seed Arizona Christian. Grace is playing in its third straight “Elite Eight.”
The Lancers scored on their first two possessions to take a quick 5-2 lead. Raasch tallied four points in a row, and Brett Sickafoose converted an and-1 to put the Lancers on top 12-7.
A few possessions later, a triple from Hunter Walston gave Grace a six-point edge, its largest of the half.
But SMWC battled back and managed to regain the lead with 5:31 remaining.
Grace responded by feeding Raasch and Scott. The duo scored Grace’s final 14 points of the half, leading the Lancers back on top.
Scott highlighted Grace’s surge with a thunderous dunk over a Pomeroy defender.
Grace charged into halftime with a 36-33 lead.
Grace finished the half shooting 50 percent from the floor despite hitting just 2 of 9 (22 percent) on 3s. The Lancers controlled the interior, scoring 22 paint points before halftime.
Raasch was a force with 14 first-half points, making all six of his field goals, and Scott amassed 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks.
SMWC shot 42 percent for the half and 44 percent on 3s.
Four minutes into the second half, SMWC rallied to even the score at 45-45. Grace then scored in the lane on three straight possessions, using scores from Scott, Raasch and Gage Sefton to take the lead for good.
Scott then scored on two straight possessions, capping off a 10-0 run and putting Grace ahead 55-45 with 12:36 remaining.
The Pomeroys had one final rally remaining, trimming the Lancers’ lead to five with 8:20 on the clock.
But Grace dialed up its defense; the Lancers held SMWC to just one made field goal for more than four minutes.
Grace took advantage and regained a double-digit cushion. The Lancers sank seven free throws over the last 65 seconds to secure the win.
Grace finished the game shooting 55 percent for the game, including 61 percent after halftime.
Most impressively, the Lancers outrebounded SMWC 37-27. The Pomeroys rank third in the NAIA in rebounding and outboard their opponents by 11 per game.
Sickafoose scored 11 points with two assists, and Sefton produced eight points and five rebounds.
Carter Stoltzfus collected 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, Walston had eight points, and Justin DeGraaf chipped in five points and five boards.
“St. Mary-of-the-Woods is a good team, and they made a lot of big shots. To outrebound that team by 10 was very important for us,” said Grace head coach Scott Moore. “Every team is good here in Kansas City. We made some nice runs in the second half, and made enough plays late to secure the win.”