Godfrey Leads Lancers Over EaglesWINONA LAKE – Just two games into the season, Grace College junior Logan Godfrey has already found his offensive groove.
The 6-foot-7 Godfrey, a Fort Wayne Snider product, was 7 of 10 from the field Friday night en route to a team-high 14 points as the Lancers won their men’s basketball home opener 72-59 over the Judson University Eagles.
Godfrey’s performance, which also included nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and a trio of emphatic dunks, came on the heels of a 23-point effort in Tuesday’s season-opening loss at Lawrence Tech.
Godfrey made 11 of 14 shot attempts in that game.
“Logan’s been playing with some passion, and he’s really kind of come into his own,” said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, now in his 41st season at the helm of the program.
“He runs the floor really hard. If you’re gonna run the floor with him you’ve got to run hard. He just gets up and down the court really well.”
Friday’s win was the 759th of Kessler’s NAIA Hall of Fame career, and the game was the first of three in four days for the Lancers.
Grace will continue the Lancer Tipoff Classic today with a 1 p.m. game against Governors State University. Action will get underway at 11 a.m. with Judson University playing Lourdes University.
The Lancers host Ohio Christian Monday at 7 p.m.
Sophomore Jaret Sons complimented Godfrey’s performance with 13 points, seven boards and a thunderous dunk of his own.
No other Lancers scored in double figures, but five did score at least six points in the win.
Senior Stephen Halsted chipped in with nine points, while sophomore Braxton Linville and highly-touted freshmen Haden Deaton and Matt Jennings finished with seven each.
Red-shirt freshman Martin Schiele, who sat out last season with an injury, tallied six points for the Lancers.
In all, 12 players checked into the game for Grace, with 10 of them scoring.
The Lancers scored the first eight points of the game, led 40-33 at halftime and built the advantage to as many as 17 points in the second half.
“We can play deep, and we did,” Kessler said of the number of weapons on his roster. “Our bench outscored their bench 31-7 ... that’s a good thing. We have confidence to put guys in.”
Taylor Boley led the Eagles with 18 points, four boards and four steals, while Rashad Grant added 17 points and eight rebounds.
GRACE COLLEGE 72, JUDSON UNIVERSITY 59
JU 33 26 – 59
GC 40 32 – 72
JU – Jordan Johnson 3-9 2-2 8, Jesse Corley 2-3 1-2 7, Taylor Boley 4-11 9-9 18, Rashad Grant 7-16 3-5 17, Brayden Royse 1-6 0-0 2, Zachary Skorik 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Greeny 1-3 0-0 3, Taylor Hiland 0-0 2-2 2, Eddie Goldston 0-0 0-0 0, Joshua Friesen 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 19-57 17-20 59.
Grace – Braxton Linville 3-5 0-0 7, Stephen Halstead 3-8 0-0 9, Haden Deaton 3-5 0-0 7, Logan Godfrey 7-10 0-2 14, Erik Bowen 2-7 0-0 4, Sam Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Holmes 1-2 0-0 2, Tim Swanson 0-2 0-0 0, Matt Jennings 3-9 0-0 7, Charlie Warner 1-7 1-2 3, Jaret Sons 5-11 0-0 13, Martin Schiele 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 31-73 1-4 72.
