POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - When Eric Gaff was playing at Concord High School, Grace College coach Jim Kessler said there were people in the Northern Lakes Conference who didn't even know his name.
After the 6-foot-10 Grace junior's dominant performance Thursday in the first round of the 17th annual NAIA Division II men's national basketball tournament, the coaches and players for the Embry-Riddle Eagles would like to forget him.Gaff scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as the Lancers beat 14th-seeded Embry-Riddle 75-65 at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks, located just outside Branson, Mo.
Grace (25-9) advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 32-team, single elimination tournament and will play third-seeded Morningside (Iowa) today at 5:45 p.m. EDT. Morningside (29-3), a team that spent seven weeks as the No. 1 team in the country this season, advanced by beating Indiana Tech 73-67 Friday.
"Three years ago, they didn't even know his name in the Northern Lakes Conference," said Kessler, whose Lancers are in the NAIA national tournament for the first time since bowing out in the first round in 1993. "I saw him play and thought he was mobile for a big man. Tonight his mobility showed. We've been getting after him all year. Tonight he came ready to play."
Gaff scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half, helping the Lancers turn a 31-30 halftime deficit into a 10-point win that gave Kessler his 570th victory at Grace.
Four of Gaff's points came on monstrous dunks, the first coming over 6-10 Embry-Riddle sophomore William Benjamin.
"I thought he was going to block the shot," Gaff said of his dunk on Benjamin, which cut the Eagles' advantage to 48-47 with 9:12 to play. "I usually don't show a lot of emotion, but I was pretty excited after that. It feels great to come down here and win. It's a great win for the seniors. It's a great win for the school. I think it means a lot to Coach K. It's just really special to come down here and get a win."
Gaff finished the game 11 of 13 from the field and also blocked four shots.
Kessler said some of Gaff's recent aggression can be attributed to the veteran Lancer coach's son-in-law, Jarrod Lovette.
Lovette, who played at Marquette and who currently plays for the Elkhart Express of the International Basketball League is an assistant coach for Grace.
And when the 6-10, 300-pounder laces up his sneakers and practices with the Lancers it certainly helps Gaff and the rest of Grace's frontliners.
"My son-in-law is 6-10, 300 pounds," said Kessler. "They go at each other in practice. Eric still doesn't know howgood he can be."
The people inside Keeter Gymnasium got a glimpse of it Thursday, though.
They also saw 6-7 Grace senior Kyle Johnson compliment Gaff with 18 points and seven rebounds.
After scoring just four points on a 2-of-8 effort from the field in the first half, Johnson scored 14 points in the second half.
"I was cold in the first half," said Johnson, who made all seven of his free throw attempts. "In the second half I settled down and got my rhythm. I knew I just had to keep shooting and eventually the shots would fall. So I kept firing away and they started falling."
Arguably the biggest shot Johnson hit during the game was a three-pointer from the top of the key that knotted the game at 50 with 8:02 remaining. Johnson's trey was the first three points of 10 unanswered points for the Lancers, and also sparked an 18-4 run that gave Grace a 65-54 lead with 1:15 to play when senior Marcus Moore connected on two free throws.
Gaff's performance was huge for the Lancers. Johnson's effort just makes Grace that much more of a threat to upend third-seeded Morningside and advance to Saturday's elite eight.
"It's been my experience that you can get here without a big man," said Kessler. "But you really need a big man to make a run in the tournament."
Grace was fortunate enough to have two, and then also got a gutsy performance from Marcus Moore, who started and scored 12 points, but was still a bit hobbled by an ankle injury.
"It hurts pretty bad," Marcus Moore said of his left ankle. "I've never been so frustrated the last seven games of a season. I just want to help my teammates. This is what it's all about, winning in this tournament. What ankle? Winning tonight makes it all better. I just want to help my teammates win."
Marcus Moore added two assists and three steals, while his twin brother Scott scored five points and dished out a game-high seven assists.
David Swanson and Michael Wienhorst scored six points each for Grace, while Austin Kaiser finished with three points.
Tyler Debord led Embry-Riddle with 14 points, while Eric Lorenzi chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Benjamin finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Entering Thursday's game, the Eagles were averaging 25 three-point attempts per game. Against Grace, they shot just 14 treys and made six of them.
The Lancers scored 38 points in the paint, scored 25 points off turnovers and were an impressive 21 of 26 from the free-throw line, including an 18-of-22 effort from the charity stripe in the second half.
GRACE 75,
EMBRY-RIDDLE 65
ER 31 34 - 65
G 30 45 - 75
Embry-Riddle - Eric Lorenzi 5 0-0 12, Tyler Debord 7 0-0 14, Rocky Pierre 1 0-0 2, Ryan Ridder 2 0-2 6, Denver Cobb 2 0-0 5, Danny Krazit 2 0-0 4, Glenn Dalcourt 2 1-1 6, Danny Deaver 2 0-0 6, Benjamin 5 0-0 10. Totals 28 3-3 65.
Grace - Kyle Johnson 5 7-7 18, Michael Wienhorst 1 4-4 6, Eric Gaff 11 3-5 25, Scott Moore 2 0-2 5, Marcus Moore 2 7-8 12, Austin Kaiser 1 0-0 3, David Henry 0 0-0 0, Tyler Winkleman 0 0-0 0, David Swanson 3 0-0 6. Totals 25 21-26 75.
3-point goals - Embry-Riddle 6 (Lorenzi 2, Deaver 2, Cobb 1, Dalcourt 1), Grace 4 (Johnson 1, S. Moore 1, M. Moore 1, Kaiser 1). Rebounds - Embry-Riddle 34 (Lorenzi 10), Grace 31 (Gaff 10). Turnovers - Embry-Riddle 21, Grace 11. Fouls (fouled out) - Embry-Riddle 24 (Cobb), Grace 11. Records - Embry-Riddle 27-7, Grace 25-9.
