Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - Grace College students don't return from Christmas break until next week. It appeared Tuesday night against Spring Arbor, the Lancers' offense was still on vacation.
Grace shot just 30 percent in the first half en route to a 74-60 loss to Spring Arbor in men's basketball action.
The Lancers looked out of sync for most of the game while Spring Arbor looked ready for the Mid-Central Conference tilt.
Three starters scored seven points for the Cougars in the first half as Spring Arbor jumped out to a 33-24 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Micah Lancaster, Mike Folkert and Darby Decker II paced Spring Arbor in the first half.
Lancaster asserted himself in the second half as he finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Lancaster sparked a 14-1 run in the second half that pushed Spring Arbor's lead to 23 points at 61-38 with less than 10 minutes left in regulation.
At that point Grace showed signs of life with the help of reserves sophomore Kyle Johnson and freshman Michael Wienhorst.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 forward who was playing in his first game in several weeks since being sidelined with a leg injury, was assertive in the post and showed a nice touch around the basket to finish with 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting. Johnson also finished with five rebounds in just 11 minutes of action.
Wienhorst, a 2005 Warsaw Community High School graduate, scored 13 of Grace's last 15 points as the Lancers attempted to get within single digits.
"Kyle (Johnson) is a very skilled player," said Grace head coach Jim Kessler. "We missed him quite a bit while he was out, and Michael brings intensity every time he's on the floor. We just need to harness that intensity."
Wienhorst was aggressive on both offense and defense and finished with 13 points and five rebounds in just 9:36 of play before fouling out.
Grace's leading scorer Marcus Moore struggled from the field to finish with just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Moore's brother and second leading scorer Scott finished with just three points.
The duo scored just two points in the first half.
But for a team that doesn't introduce its starters before the game but rather gets introduced as a team, the loss to Spring Arbor will not be put on a couple of players.
"They really outplayed us tonight," said Kessler. "They brought their 'A' game and we brought our 'B' game and in conference play you can't do that."
Grace looked lethargic for most of the game until Johnson and Wienhorst caught fire. The Lancers seemed to lack intensity for most of the contest, something that wasn't lost on Kessler.
"It's not just physical intensity...it's mental intensity as well. When your opponent switches you've got to be patient enough to look for the open shot. You can score on switching teams if you're patient and we weren't," said Kessler.
The Lancers lack of patience also showed in the turnover department. Grace committed 17 turnovers to Spring Arbor's eight. With 13 minutes left in the second half the Cougars had committed just two turnovers.
While Wienhorst and Johnson led the Lancers with 13 points each and Marcus Moore scored 10, Eric Gaff finished with seven points and 13 rebounds. David Ritter came off the bench and scored all of his six points in the first half to keep Grace afloat.
Grace moved to 11-7 overall and 2-2 in the MCC. Grace will travel to Upland Saturday to play Taylor at 3 p.m. in the second of 13 straight MCC games.
SPRING ARBOR 74, GRACE 60
Spr Arbor 33 41 - 74
Grace 24 36 - 60
Spr. Arbor FG FT R S Pts.
*Lancaster 8-19 8-11 4 3 24
*Jefferson 5-11 2-2 8 1 12
*Folkert 3-9 0-0 5 1 7
*Parrish 1-5 0-1 6 0 2
*Decker 4-5 1-2 4 1 10
Brandt 3-7 5-5 3 1 14
Edmonds 0-1 1-2 2 1 1
Briggs 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
Hinkle 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Totals 26-61 17-23 33 8 74
Grace FG FT R S Pts.
*Snyder 0-2 0-0 2 0 0
*M. Moore 3-14 4-6 0 1 10
*Richmond 1-5 3-4 4 0 5
*S. Moore 1-6 1-2 4 2 3
*Gaff 3-8 1-2 13 0 7
Wienhorst 5-7 2-2 5 0 13
Hamstra 1-4 0-0 2 0 3
Winkleman 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Johnson 6-6 1-1 5 0 13
Gale 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Ritter 3-4 0-1 1 0 6
Kaiser 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 23-61 12-18 36 3 60
Three-point goals - Spring Arbor 5-17 (Brandt 3-5, Folkert 1-6, Decker 1-1), Grace 2-15 (Hamstra 1-4, Wienhorst 1-1). Turnovers - Spring Arbor 8, Grace 17. Fouls - Spring Arbor 16, Grace 19. Fouled out - Hinkle, Wienhorst.
