POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Not only did Grace College end Warner Pacific's season, but senior Eric Gaff said the Lancers sent a message Thursday afternoon.
The Lancers trailed the Knights by eight points in the first half of their opening-round game of the 18th annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament, only to respond with a 13-0 run that was highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from sophomore Jacob Peattie and another from senior Michael Wienhorst.
In the second half, after the two teams were knotted at 44-all at halftime, the Lancers trailed 68-62 with eight minutes remaining, only to close the game on a 20-4 run.
It all added up to an 82-72 win for Grace and a berth in today's Sweet 16 round of the 32-team, single-elimination tournament at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks near Branson, Mo.
"It says a lot about us," Gaff said of the Lancers' resiliency. "We're going to play hard, stay focused and not bicker with each other. We play as a team, we have all season. This game sends a message that teams better put us away, because we're going to keep fighting back."
In the NAIA national tournament, only the top 16 teams are seeded.
With Thursday's 10-point win, the unseeded-Lancers improved to 21-10 on the season, while 13th-seeded Warner Pacific's season ended with a 21-9 record.
"You've got to get the first one," 33rd-year Lancers coach Jim Kessler said of his team's opening-round win. "You can't worry about tomorrow until you get the first one. I'm very proud of my guys. I thought we stayed within ourselves, and we battled. We're unseeded, there's only one team that got into the tournament after us, but we proved we belong here."
The Lancers, who received the ninth of 10 at-large bids, will play unseeded Ottawa (Kansas) today. The game was scheduled to tip off at 1:45 CST. Ottawa (19-13) advanced to the Sweet 16 by beating fourth-seeded Walsh (Ohio) 91-83 Thursday.
The Lancers' battle with Warner Pacific, a school located in Portland, Ore., featured a matchup of nationally acclaimed big men in the 6-foot-10 Gaff and the Knights' Kaylone Riley, a 6-7 junior.
Gaff entered the game among the nation's leaders in scoring with 21 points per game. The Concord High School product leads the nation in rebounding (12 per game) and double-doubles.
Riley, the Cascade Collegiate Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, entered the game averaging 11 points per game, but more impressively, as the nation's leader in blocked shots with 106.
The duo didn't disappoint, as Gaff finished with game highs of 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, while Riley finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
Both Gaff and Riley wowed the crowd at Keeter Gymnasium with dunks.
When all was said and done, though, Riley's dazzling alley-oop slams took a backseat to Gaff and Grace's 10-point win.
"He's a good player," Gaff said of Riley. "He's very athletic, but we came here and played as a team, and we used our intelligence and basketball knowledge to beat them. We got (Riley) into foul trouble, and our defense was key toward the end of the game."
Riley fouled out of the game, and as a team the Knights were whistled for 23 fouls. Warner Pacific was just 1 of 3 at the free-throw line, while the Lancers, who committed 10 fouls as a team, were 23 of 28 at the charity stripe.
While Gaff and Riley were battling with each other down low, Grace junior David Swanson put together a double-double of his own, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
"Riley was on Eric most of the game, and that opened up things for me," said the 6-6 Swanson. "Eric draws a lot of double teams, and that left things open for me."
Wienhorst, a Warsaw Community High School product, finished the game with 20 points.
"Michael had a big game," said Kessler, whose team advanced to the Elite Eight last season, falling to eventual national champion Oregon Tech. "I thought Michael played within himself and hit some big shots. Our big guys did a great job inside, and when we get 20 points out of one of our guards, we're tough to beat."
Peattie and sophomore guard David Henry chipped in with eight points each, while freshman Derek Johnson and junior Kyle Plumlee rounded out Grace's scoring with four and three points, respectively.
Adam Moore scored a team-high 21 points for Warner Pacific, while Riley chipped in with 15 points, Aukai Wong scored 14, Kenen Dizdrevic finished with 11 and Jake Glisson tallied nine points.
Four teams from the Hoosier State were in the 32-team field, and all four of them advanced to the second round.
Second-seeded Bethel (31-3) won its opening game 86-58 over unseeded Johnson and Wales (Colorado) Wednesday, while sixth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan (28-6) opened play with a 67-61 win over unseeded Trinity Christian.
Bethel and Indiana-Southeast were scheduled to tip off at 8:30 a.m. CST today, while Indiana Wesleyan was scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. CST against unseeded Evergreen State (Washington).
Among the early story lines of the tournament were the upsets of seven seeded teams.
Teams making early exits included No. 3 Cedarville, No. 4 Walsh, No. 10 Mt. Vernon Nazarene, No. 11 Bluefield, No. 13 Warner Pacific, No. 14 Aquinas and No. 16 Dakota Wesleyan.
