Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - The Grace College men's basketball team had been involved in this situation before.
Last year, Marian College came into Lancer Gym with a strong record and national recognition behind the strong play of sophomore Doug Pardue.
In that game the Lancers held Pardue, who went on to become first team all-conference, to just nine points. However, two of those came on a coast-to-coast drive with less than 10 seconds to play to give Marian a 66-65 victory over Grace.
Saturday, Marian came to Grace College again, this time with a 9-3 record and a No. 27 ranking in the NAIA Division II poll. The Lancers once again shut down Pardue, holding him to 10 points, eight below his season average.
And after Pardue missed a jumper with 15 seconds to play Saturday, Shannon Brown's rebound gave the Lancers the ball trailing by two points, 64-62. Grace got off three shots in the final five seconds, but none would fall as Marian held off the Lancers.
"You're not going to beat people when you turn it over and you miss free throws," head coach Jim Kessler said. "That's the game right there."
Grace had 18 turnovers in the game, six more than Marian, and made just 4 of 11 free-throws.
"We did a good job defensively," Kessler said. "But you can't win if you can't make free-throws and you turn it over."
For the Lancers, those two keys have been a problem for much of the year. Grace is averaging just a bit less than 20 turnovers a game, while making just 63.3 percent of its free-throws on the season.
It didn't look like it would be close early as the Lancers came out on fire. Grace made 15 of its first 20 shots to take a 36-21 lead with 3:47 to play in the first half. But Marian switched from a man-to-man press to a zone press and it frustrated Grace.
"They went to a zone press and we panicked," Kessler said. "Not only did we throw it to the wrong place, but people didn't go where they were supposed to go."
Marian went on a quick 9-0 run in which the Lancers got just one field goal attempt. At halftime, Grace led 39-32.
In the second half, Marian tied the game at 41-41 with 16:10 to play and neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way.
The Knights did not score over the final 3:15 of the game, but Grace made just one field goal and one free-throw over the same stretch.
Ryan Bricker led Grace with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He also made 4 of 5 three-pointers, all in the first half. Lawrence Burnett, who played through a twisted ankle that he hurt in the first half, scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Grace (9-10, 0-1 MCC) will continue to face stiff competition this week. The Lancers will play at No. 9 Huntington College Tuesday at 7 p.m. Grace will then host No. 1 Bethel Thursday at 7 p.m.
MARIAN 64, GRACE 62
Marian 32 32 - 64
Grace 39 23 - 62
Marian - Danny Davison 3-6 0-0 6, Doug Pardue 3-12 3-3 10, Dozzle Adams 3-4 2-2 8, David Meece 7-10 1-2 15, Slaven Franic 3-5 1-4 7, Matt Brewer 2-2 0-0 6, Jeff Quillen 0-1 0-0 0, James Gardner 4-10 4-8 12. Totals - 25-50 11-19 64.
Grace - Matt Moore 1-6 1-2 3, Ryan Bricker 8-11 0-0 20, Lawrence Burnett 7-11 0-2 14, Ben Tonagel 3-8 0-0 8, Dan Scharlach 3-7 1-2 7, Shannon Brown 3-5 2-5 8, Jeremy Swanson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals -Ê26-50 4-11 62.
Three-pointers - Marian 3-11 (Brewer 2-2, Pardue 1-6, Davison 0-1, Adams 0-1, Gardner 0-1), Grace 6-13 (Bricker 4-5, Tonagel 2-6, Moore 0-2). Rebounds - Marian 29 (Meece 6), Grace 29 (Brown 7). Personal fouls - Marian 16, Grace 15. Fouled out - none. Turnovers - Marian 12, Grace 18.
Records -ÊMarian 10-3, 1-1 MCC; Grace 9-10, 0-1 MCC.
