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The opening round of the NAIA men’s basketball tournament may have looked extremely favorable for No. 1 seeded Grace, going up against No. 16 Johnson. However, the Royals gave the Lancers everything they had, sticking around for the first 20 minutes and even taking the lead twice in the second half. However, Grace stuck to its gameplan, punishing their opponent down low and eventually winning 88-80 after dominating the final 10 minutes.
“If that is what one of the lowest seeds in this tournament looks like, I’d hate to see what the best ones are capable of,” Grace head coach Scott Moore said after the game. “This was a great team we beat tonight. I think our depth is what took us across the finish line tonight, which is something we’ve used all year long.
Going up against one of the top teams in the country, the Royals demonstrated no fear in the game’s opening minutes. With top scorer Mason Lockhart leading the way, the No. 16 seed took an early 6-2 lead after two minutes. It wasn’t long after that that the Lancers began to get into a rhythm of their own offensively, scoring seven straight to jump in front and force a timeout by their opponents.
Both offenses stayed hot for the next few minutes, keeping the contest close. Each time it looked as if Grace was going to string a few baskets together to take control of the game, Johnson went right down to the other end and buried a shot of their own to remain in striking distance. Eight minutes in, things were knotted up at 15 all.
Following the game’s second timeout, the Lancer defense began to start stacking some stops together. Combined with and-one opportunities for both Gavin Betten and Ian Raasch, the hosts were able to extend their lead to six, the largest of the game so far. The team had more opportunities to grow the lead even larger, but came up empty handed on a few possessions in a row.
The visitors were able to take advantage of those misses, getting back on track with six straight points of their own to tie things back up. The score didn’t stay even for long, as some pretty passing by the Lancers allowed the hosts to go back in front once again. The unselfish culture of the program was on full display during this stretch, as players were passing up open looks to dish the ball to a teammate with even more space. This allowed the hosts to take their largest lead of the first half, seven.
Also on display was the resiliency of the Royals, as once again, the lower seed continued to fight and prevent Grace from extending their lead even further and starting to run away with things. With the opposing defense not giving an inch, the Johnson players were hitting some tough shots in order to stick around.
By the time the two sides reached the final media timeout of the first half, things were tied up again at 33. The visitors’ ability to hit timely shots, especially from beyond the arc, had served them well. In a first half that featured seven ties, a couple more were added down the stretch before the Lancers were able to take a 37-35 lead into the break.
Freshman Tyler Raasch of Grace elbows his way to the basket during the first half of Friday's 1st Round of the NAIA Tournament...Nieter
After putting the No. 1 seed on notice over the first 20 minutes, the Royals continued to play extremely well to begin the second half. The visitors jumped in front multiple times over the first few minutes, continuing to match one of the 10 best scoring offenses in the NAIA.
Even as things remained uncomfortably close, Grace continued to stick to its gameplan. After out-scoring their opponent 28-16 in the paint in the first half, the Lancers continued to go to work down low, and it was paying off. By the time the first media timeout was reached, the hosts had retaken the lead and were up by five.
Despite giving up a lot of size, junior Gage Sefton was not afraid to take it to the rim against the big boys, and it was paying off for him and his team. The junior was able to come up with a series of big baskets as the second half got going to help Grace remain in front. With the Johnson defense now giving most of their attention to the paint, the opportunity for a pass to the perimeter was now in play. With a little under 12 minutes to go in the game, a triple by Cannen Houser made it an eight-point game.
“We knew that a lot of the guys that get minutes for us were playing in their first NAIA tournament game tonight, so we knew we had to step up as leaders,”: Sefton said. “We had to pound the paint against these guys. I thought we really got after them in the second half, kept the pressure up and that’s when we started getting the stops we needed.”
By the time the midway point of the second half rolled around, the Lancers were now up nine and had spent a short period up by double digits. Defensively, the hosts were doing much better than they had earlier in the game, preventing their opponent from getting the open looks it needed to keep hanging around. On the other end, the Lancers were still attacking the paint, and it was paying off in spades. Not only was Grace getting a ton of shots to fall down low, but the team was also getting their opponent in foul trouble in the process.
With all of those extra chances at the line and Sefton still leading the way, the Lancers finally began to separate. The red and white went up by as many as 16 with eight minutes left, but the Royals had one last run up their sleeve. The visitors got right to work, chipping away at the lead until it was a six-point game with just over six minutes left.
Soon just three minutes remained and Grace had done a good job of holding off the Royals to this point, now leading by nine. Johnson was giving the hosts everything they had, pressing full court, fouling instead of giving up easy looks, and running the offense as quickly as possible to try and shrink the deficit. However, the Lancers were proving to be too much. Raasch, the junior leader of this team, was coming up with some massive baskets down the stretch to will his team to victory.
With the lead now at eleven and only a minute left in the game, all Grace had to do to ice things was make their free throws. With plenty of trips to the line already in this half, the hosts remained in a rhythm and sealed the deal at the charity stripe.
Grace will play its next tournament game on Saturday at 3:30. A win will advance the team to the Sweet 16 in Kansas City.
