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WINONA LAKE - More than anything, Grace men's basketball coach Jim Kessler wanted better execution out of his young Lancers this weekend.
The wins, the thought was, would be a byproduct of the better play.
Grace, losers of three of its first four games of the year, got the improvement in the execution, but split its games at the Optimist Tip-Off Tournament by losing the championship game to Cornerstone College 85-71 Saturday.
The Lancers, the defending Optimist champions, stayed right with Cornerstone (5-0) for a majority of the game. Only a stretch in the second half kept the Lancers from being able to pull off the upset against Cornerstone, a team that already owns a win this season against No. 1 Bethel.
"I am not disappointed at all," Kessler said. "They came off a couple of games where we didn't execute well. Both games this weekend, we did a pretty good job of trying to execute the things we wanted to do defensively. We weren't able to always do it. They took us to school in the paint."
The Lancers trailed only 38-33 to high-powered Cornerstone, but the Eagles got their running game going and outscored Grace 15-1 early in the second half to open up a 53-39 lead.
With Cornerstone in foul trouble, Grace closed the margin to 67-56, but tournament MVP Matt Meekes got a dunk and 6-foot-7 center Mark Zichterman hit a three-pointer to put the nail in the coffin for Cornerstone.
The big key was Cornerstone's ability to get the ball inside to Meekes and Zichterman in the second half and convert the baskets. The Eagles hit on 19 of 28 shots from the field in the second for 73.1 percent.
"Except for a few stretches, they (Cornerstone) were very efficient," Kessler said. "They shot 75 percent from the field. A lot of those were right in the paint."
Another big part for the Lancers was the decreased production in the second half from their main scoring threat. Andy Schmidt, one of only two seniors on the team, had nine points on 3 of 7 shooting in the first half. In the second stanza, Schmidt was 0 of 2 from the field and got just a single free throw for 10 points.
"We played him a lot at the one (point) guard, and that changes his role," Kessler said. "Part of it was our inability to be able to free him. But he is a good player, and they have to guard him. They were working hard on him."
In the first half, the Lancers were able to control the tempo against Cornerstone, who scored 120 points in its first-round game Friday against Purdue-Calumet. The Lancers led 16-15 at one point and were down only 28-24 as Schmidt hit his third three-pointer of the first half.
Grace put on another run and took a 31-30 lead on a three-pointer from Caleb Gilmer. Cornerstone got a rally of its own and held a 38-33 lead at the break.
"I am pleased with the progress," Kessler said. "We are a better team than we were a weekend ago. I thought we did a good job containing the tempo, except for a few stretches. In both halves, they got some quick transition baskets. And that is really the difference in the game."
Gilmer, from Warsaw High School, led the Lancers with 16 points while freshman Ben Tonagel added 15.
Meekes paced Cornerstone with 22 points, Chris Fisher got 12 and Zichterman 11.
The loss denied Kessler from reaching a milestone. The Lancer boss is 399-267 in 21 seasons at the helm of the Grace program, leaving him just one win shy of 400 wins.
"I don't really concern myself with that," Kessler said. "That is just a product of being an old man. I have had some great players to help that happen."
Grace is at the Wisconsin Lutheran Tournament Nov. 21-22.
