WINONA LAKE – Quick starts to both halves helped Grace College's men's basketball team put the finshing touches on the Missouri Valley College Vikings Friday night. Playing in the nightcap of the Hoops For Hope Tournament, the host Lancers opened the game with a 19-2 run and started the second half with a 15-2 spurt, as they cruised to a 74-55 victory at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. "Good team effort tonight," said Grace coach Jim Kessler, whose team improved to 3-0 on the season. "We can put up a flurry of points. I thought our depth really showed tonight." Ten different players scored for the Lancers, who are ranked ninth in the NAIA Division II national poll. Senior Duke Johnson led the way with a game-high 17 points, while juniors Elliot Smith and Bruce Grimm Jr., added 14 points each and sophomore Dennis Williams chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds. With the 19-point win, Grace advanced to today's 5 p.m. championship game against eighth-ranked Embry Riddle, a four-point winner over Missouri Baptist. "It could be a nice matchup," Kessler said of playing Embry Riddle. "I don't know if we're top 10 teams, but we're gonna play and see what happens." Missouri Valley, an NAIA Division I school, fell to 1-2 on the season. The Vikings were led by junior James Pope and senior Bryan Corely, who scored 11 and 10 points, respetively. Stymied by Grace's pressure defense, Missouri Valley was held scoreless for nearly five minutes to start the game, and the Vikings only scored five points in the first 13 minutes of the contest. "Good team effort," said Kessler. "We got points out of a lot of different guys, and we did some nice things defensively. We have to clean some things up, but the first 15 minutes of the game was about as well as we've played this year." The Lancers led 32-16 at halftime and led by as many as 31 points (56-25) in the second half.
GRACE 74, MISSOURI VALLEY 55 MV 16 39 – 55 GC 32 42 – 74 MV – Michael Connor 2-8 0-0 4, Jim Thomas 2-3 0-0 5, David Yadrich 2-3 0-0 6, James Pope 4-6 3-6 11, Bryan Corely 4-10 2-2 10, David Smith 2-7 2-4 6, Landers Riddle 1-4 1-2 3, Chuck Misuraca 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Weir 2-6 0-0 5, Colin Burns 1-3 0-0 3, Lawrence Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Daniel Cardosa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 8-14 55. Grace – Dayton Merrell 0-5 3-4 3, Dennis Williams 4-7 1-2 9, Duke Johnson 4-8 9-9 17, Jacob Peattie 2-6 1-1 5, Bruce Grimm Jr. 3-14 8-9 14, Lee Ross 1-2 0-0 2, Morgan Michalski 0-0 0-0 0, Elliot Smith 5-7 0-0 14, Jacob Goodman 0-1 0-0 0, Benjamin Euler 1-1 0-0 3, Greg Miller 2-4 0-0 4, Tannan Peters 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 23-57 23-27 74. Three-point goals – MV 5 (Yadrich 2, Thomas, Weir, Burns), Grace 5 (Smith 4, Euler); Rebounds - MV 27 (Smith 5), Grace 37 (Williams 9); Turnovers – MV 19, Grace 15; Records: MV 1-2, Grace 3-0
