WINONA LAKE - All season long, said coach Jim Kessler, senior Eric Gaff has been the man for Grace college's basketball team.
The 6-foot-10 center certainly came up big for the Lancers Tuesday night, scoring 28 points and pulling down 11 rebounds as Grace beat conference rival Taylor 71-48 at the Orthopaedic Capital Center.Senior Michael Wienhorst added 13 points and five assists for Grace, while Gaff's fellow frontliner, 6-6 junior David Swanson, chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds.
"Our big guys came to play tonight," Kessler said of Gaff and Swanson. "They were focused. As a team, I was pleased with our focus and concentration tonight."
For Gaff, it was his NAIA Division II-leading 14th double-double of the season, as Grace improved to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in Mid-Central Conference play.
Gaff finished the game 13 of 19 from the field, while Swanson was 6 of 9.
With the loss, the Taylor Trojans fell to 8-11 overall and 1-4 in MCC play.
After Tuesday night's conference games, Grace is in third place in the MCC but very well could have been in first.
The Lancers let a 15-point lead against Bethel and fell 93-87 in overtime on Nov. 25, and then shot just 30 percent from the field in a 74-66 loss to Goshen Saturday.
"This was better than our last effort," Kessler said of Tuesday's game, a contest in which the Lancers shot 58 percent from the field. "Shooting is a fickle part of the game. We shot 75 percent against Indiana Tech and then we shot 30 percent against Goshen. Tonight we didn't shoot too bad. We could be in first place in the MCC. We've had double-digit leads against everyone. You have to live in the present when you play in the MCC. You can't let the last game affect you."
Bethel and Spring Arbor have 4-1 records in MCC play, while Indiana-Wesleyan and St. Francis are 3-1.
Huntington and Goshen are 1-3 in MCC action, while Marian is 0-4.
Freshmen Dayton Merrell and Derek Johnson scored four points each for the Lancers, while junior Ryan Eakins and sophomore David Henry scored three points each and sophomore Stephen Kaufman and freshman Benjamin Euler scored two points each.
Henry led the Lancers with with a game-high eight assists.
Grace wasted no time in setting the tone of Tuesday's game, as the Lancers raced out to a 13-4 lead.
Grace led by as much as 15 in the first half and took a 36-23 lead into the break.
A second-half dunk by Gaff gave the Lancers a 25-point lead at 59-34, and then moments later a bucket by Swanson put Grace ahead 65-35.
Jacob Bream and Daniel Cox led Taylor with 10 points each, while Justin Goeglein and Jake Burkholder scored seven and six points, respectively.
The Lancers will be in action again Saturday as they travel to Spring Arbor.
