WINONA LAKE – Grace College’s men’s basketball team delivered a much-needed Crossroads League victory on Saturday, downing Saint Francis 75-57. Four Lancers scored in double figures to propel Grace into a tie for second place in the league standings. As a team, Grace turned the ball over a season-low four times, dishing out 18 assists on 28 made field goals. Bruce Grimm Jr., the league leader in assists, led all players with 21 points, 9 assists and no turnovers. The Lancers (19-8; 11-5 CL) exuded efficiency on offense in the first half. Grace made 50 percent of its field goals, tallied nine assists and recorded just one turnover in the first 20 minutes of action. The Cougars (17-11; 9-7 CL) kept themselves in contention by crashing the boards, snagging eight offensive rebounds before halftime. Elliot Smith scored the final points of the half with a breakaway layup that just beat the halftime buzzer, lifting the Lancers to a 37-33 advantage. An early 8-0 spurt sparked the Lancers in the second half, and the Cougars never fully recovered. Grace’s defense held Saint Francis to 24 second-half points. They did not allow the Cougars to come closer than five points of Grace’s lead for the remainder of the game. Saint Francis made one final charge to trim the Lancers’ lead to 61-54 with 4:47 to play. But Smith dealt the crushing blow to the Cougars with back-to-back three-pointers, effectively finishing the Cougars’ threat. Smith buried 4 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Greg Miller connected on 6 of 8 from the floor for 14 points, and Karl Columbus tallied 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. Tannan Peters recorded eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to go with his team-best six boards, and Dennis Williams notched four points, five rebounds and one blocked shot off the bench. There are two regular-season games remaining, as Grace will travel to rival Bethel on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before hosting Taylor on Saturday at 3 p.m. Grace, Bethel and Taylor are deadlocked for second place in the Crossroads League, one game behind Indiana Wesleyan. Both the winner of the regular season title and the league tournament champion receive automatic bids to the NAIA Division II National Tournament. Grace is hoping for its fifth berth in the tournament in the past six years.
