FORT WAYNE - A week after he missed a game because of an appendectomy, Grace College senior David Henry helped deliver a punch to the gut of the fifth-ranked St. Francis Cougars.
Henry connected on five three-pointers Saturday, including three in the final six minutes, as the 21st-ranked Lancers beat the defending NAIA Division II national champions 85-80 in Mid-Central Conference action at Hutzell Athletic Center in Fort Wayne."It helps when your senior guard shoots the ball like that," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team trailed 35-29 at halftime. A week ago, he was out because of an appendectomy. He hit some big shots today."
Henry and sophomore guard Elliot Smith scored 19 points each for the Lancers, while 6-foot-10 junior center Duke Johnson finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Junior Dayton Merrell scored 10 points in the win, while sophomore Tannan Peters chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds and freshman Dennis Williams added six points and six rebounds.
"This is a great win for us," said Kessler. "We've really focused on gelling and playing together. If we stay together, we'll keep heading in the right direction, and we'll be fine."
With their fourth win in a row, the Lancers are now 14-6 overall and 5-2 in MCC play, while St. Francis fell to 16-5 overall and 5-2 in conference action.
Eleventh-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, which beat St. Francis 100-96 in double overtime Tuesday, sits atop the MCC standings with a 7-0 record.
Grace and St. Francis are tied for second, followed by Huntington (4-3), Marian (3-4), Bethel (3-4), Spring Arbor (3-5), Taylor (2-5) and Goshen (0-7).
"We're right there in it," Kessler said of the conference race. "That's the MCC, you're in a battle every game. We got a big win today, now we have to be ready for another big game Tuesday."
The Lancers host Indiana Wesleyan (18-3) Tuesday at the Orthopaedic Capital Center at 7 p.m.
Grace is 9-0 at home this season, and will have a chance to snap the Wildcats' 15-game winning streak.
In Saturday's win at St. Francis, the Lancers trailed 70-67 with 4:18 remaining in the game. Three-pointers from Merrell and Henry, however, gave Grace the lead for good.
The Cougars were able to get the deficit to one three times the rest of the game but couldn't tie the score or take the lead.
Ferdinand Morales-Soto converted a pair of free throws with 2:44 remaining to cut Grace's advantage to 73-72, but the Lancers responded with a three-pointer from Henry.
Qadr Owens sank two charity tosses with 18 seconds left, but Johnson came back with two free throws of his own for the Lancers.
With nine seconds remaining in the game, Owens made a bucket to trim Grace's lead to 81-80. Owens was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw, which was rebounded by Merrell.
Merrell converted two free throws with eight seconds left for an 83-80 lead, and Johnson scored the game's final two points when he sank to charity tosses with just under four seconds remaining.
The final stats were nearly even for the Lancers and Cougars.
Grace was 24 of 56 from the field, while St. Francis was 23 of 57.
The Lancers made good on 28 of 34 free throws, while the Cougars were 29 of 38 at the line.
Both teams pulled down 37 rebounds.
One big stat for Grace was that it turned the ball over just 16 times, an area that the Lancers have struggled with at times this season.
St. Francis scored 10 points off Grace's turnovers, while the Lancers turned St. Francis' 17 turnovers into 20 points.
"We kept the turnovers under 20," said Kessler. "That's good for us. I hope that's a trend that continues."
DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis scored a game-high 24 points for St. Francis and pulled down seven rebounds. Owens chipped in with 22 points, while Morales-Sota added 17 points and a game-high eight boards.
Grace got 32 points from its bench, while the Cougars' bench produced just six points.
The Lancers and Cougars will square off again Feb. 15 at the OCC at 7 p.m.
GRACE 85, ST. FRANCIS 80
G 29 56 - 85
SF 35 45 - 80
Grace - Dayton Merrell 3-7 3-4 10, Tannan Peters 2-6 3-3 7, Duke Johnson 3-4 8-9 14, Elliot Smith 4-5 8-8 19, Bruce Grimm Jr. 1-11 1-5 3, David Henry 5-9 4-4 19, Jacob Peattie 1-1 0-0 2, Greg Miller 2-8 1-1 5, Stephen Kauffman 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Treadway 0-0 0-0 0, Dennis Williams 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 24-56 28-34 85.
Three-pointers - Grace 9 (Henry 5, Smith 3, Merrell), St. Francis 5 (Morales-Soto, Sawyer-Davis, Owens, Hussey, Dawson). Rebounds - Grace 37 (Peters 7, Johnson 7), St. Francis 37 (Morales-Soto 8). Turnovers - Grace 16, St. Francis 17. Fouls - Grace 26, St. Francis 25. Fouled out - Grimm. Records: Grace 14-6, 5-1 MCC, St. Francis 16-5, 5-2 MCC.
