Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Because of a bulging disc in his back, Grace College's Tannan Peters missed 11 games this season.
The 6-foot-6 senior from Huntington certainly looked healthy Saturday night, however, as he scored 18 points and the Lancers left the Dakota State University Trojans hurting with a 72-59 loss in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Division II men's basketball national tournament.
The 32-team, single-elimination tournament, being held once again at Keeter Gymansium on the campus of College of the Ozarks near Branson, Mo., is now down to the Final Four.
The Lancers (24-9) will play top-seeded William Penn (33-1) Monday at 6 p.m. CT, while Indiana Southeast (30-4) and second-seeded Cardinal Stritch (33-3) will square off at approximately 8 p.m. CT.
Monday's winners will play in the national championship game Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.
"This feels good," Peters said of the win, which put the Lancers in the Final Four for the first time since they won the national title in 1992. "This is hard to put into words. When I was hurt, I kept hearing encouraging things from my teammates and coaches. I knew they supported me and believed in me. My shot just felt good tonight. This is amazing."
Peters was 6 of 8 from the fied overall, 4 of 5 from three-point range, and 2 of 2 at the free throw line.
Peters made the first four treys he attempted.
"I've always felt confident shooting three-pointers," said Peters, who went into Saturday's contest averaging five points per game. "I felt confident I could knock them down."
Just as he did in Friday's 19-point win, sophomore Karl Columbus scored 18 points for the Lancers.
The 6-2 slasher and former South Bend Riley standout was 8 of 11 from the field and 2 of 2 at the charity stripe.
"My teammates trust me, and they keep telling me to get to the rim," said Columbus. "My confidence is through the roof right now, and we're playing as team and really playing well. I gotta give glory to God, without him this wouldn't be possible. I'm just using the talents he gave me."
Seniors Bruce Grimm Jr. and Elliott Smith added 12 points each and junior Greg Miller chipped in with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Grace led 35-34 at halftime and then trailed 38-37 in the opening minutes of the second half.
With a 15-2 run, though, the Lancers were able to build a double-digit lead.
From that point on, Grace led by at least six points.
"This feels like it did my senior year at Rochester (High School), we're putting it all together at tourmament time and it feels good," said Grimm, who scored 40 points and set a state finals record with eight treys in the 2009 Class 3A state finals. "You always want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the season, and I think we're doing that."
In their three national tournament games, the Lancers have won by 24, 19 and 13 points.
After disappointing losses in the first round the past two seasons, Grace has definitely found its tournament stride this time around.
"This was just another really good effort from our guys," said Kessler. "Tannan and Karl were tremendous tonight. And I have to give credit where credit is due. My assistant coaches, Coach (John) Yeh, Coach (Don) Zawlocki, Coach (Scott) Moore and Coach (Taylor) Long, have done an excellent job this week with game plans. We're a team, and they deserve a lot of credit. Everybody has worked hard for us to get to this point."
Yusuf Vinson and John Lamb led Dakota State with 14 points each, while Marcus Smith and Tyrone Gordon Jr. finished with 12 and nine points, respectively.
The Trojans finished their season with a 24-9 record.
GRACE COLLEGE 72, DAKOTA STATE 59
GC 35 37 - 72
DS 34 25 - 59
Grace - Elliot Smith 3-8 4-4 12, Greg Miller 2-8 4-6 10, Tannan Peters 6-8 2-2 18, Karl Columbus 8-11 2-2 18, Bruce Grimm Jr. 5-12 2-2 12, Lee Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Featherston 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Vanderhegghen 0-1 0-0 0, Dennis Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Fillman 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 25-50 16-18 72.
Dakota St. - Yusuf Vinson 4-7 3-3 14, Luke Lamb 1-10 0-0 2, Tyrone Gordon Jr. 4-11 1-1 9, Keith Lee 1-3 0-0 2, John Lamb 5-10 2-2 14, Ryan McCutcheon 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Krump 2-7 2-6 6.
Three-pointers - Grace 6 (Peters 4, Smith 2), Dakota St. 7 (Vinson 3, J. Lamb 2, Smith 2); Rebounds - Grace 30 (Miller 10), Dakota St. 27 (Krump 9); Turnovers - Grace 10, Dakota St. 9; Fouls - Grace 12, Dakota St. 16; Foule out - none; Records: Grace 24-9, Dakota St. 24-9
