BLOOMINGTON - Grace College's men's basketball team wasn't picked to win the Mid-Central Conference championship this season.
The Lancers probably weren't picked by many - if any - to go toe-to-toe with the Indiana Hoosiers for the majority of Wednesday night's exhibition game at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, but they did.The NAIA Division II Lancers, whose school has an enrollment of approximately 1,600, held a four-point lead in the first half and trailed by just six at halftime.
In the end, however, the NCAA Division I Hoosiers, whose state-funded school is home to nearly 40,000 students, used a 14-2 run in the second half to pull away for a 96-73 win in front of 15,453 fans.
"We came with the expectation of doing the very best we could," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, who has guided the Lancers to back-to-back elite-eight finishes in the NAIA D-II National Tournament. "I think we ran out of people a little bit. We got hurt on the boards, obviously. We had turnovers in patterns, which creates loss of momentum for you and creates momentum for the opponent."
Grace, which was outrebounded 49-36, trailed 48-46 with 15:22 remaining in the game, but a layup by freshman Derek Elston sparked the run the Hoosiers used to put the game away.
Hoosier freshman Jordan Hulls, the 2009 Indiana Mr. Basketball selection, followed Elston's layup with a three-pointer and the Hoosiers were off and running.
When its scoring blitz was over, Indiana led 62-48 with 10:11 to play in the game.
"We wanted to pressure the ball," said second-year Indiana coach Tom Crean. "We have a long way to go in our weak side defense, in stance, rotation and things like that, and we knew that going into the game. We're a young team, and it takes a while for them to grasp. We knew that we would be pushed because of how well Grace runs their offense. We certainly weren't surprised by that. It's good for us to learn how fast we have to run it in practice. I thought we pressured the ball, and we thought at halftime if we could keep that pressure up there would come a point in the game, around the middle of the second half, that we would be able to wear them down."
The taller, stronger, faster Hoosiers in fact did that, but the Lancers - playing a Big Ten team for the first time in school history - certainly made a respectable showing for themselves in a hostile environment.
"We said on the bus, if you don't believe you can do this then just sit on the bus," said Kessler. "When you believe you can, if you determine you're ready to do it, then lets get off the bus and go play. I couldn't be more proud of my men."
Senior David Swanson led the Lancers with 19 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Elliot Smith, a former Northridge standout, chipped in with 14 points.
Junior David Henry added 12 points, while senior Kyle Plumlee finished the game with 11 points and sophomore Duke Johnson contributed with six points, nine rebounds and six blocks.
Early in the game, it was the three-point shooting of Henry that enabled the Lancers to stay close.
All 12 of Henry's points in the game came from three-point range.
"We shot the ball well early," said Kessler. "That always helps. If you shoot the ball well, you can play with anybody. That's really the only thing to keep track of, is how many shots are going in. When they'd get a lead, we'd knock down a three (pointer) or two. I couldn't be more proud of our young men."
The Hoosiers had six players finish the game in double-figure scoring, led by freshman Christian Watford's 19 points.
Hulls added 14 points, while sophomore Tom Pritchard and Rivers added 12 points each and sophomore Verdell Jones and Elston finished with 10 points each.
"I put emphasis on our rotation, on playing through fatigue," said Crean. "I thought we took quality shots. We really wanted to be in the bonus at an early stage and part of learning on the fly is learning what happens when you get into the bonus. You don't become a shot-manufacturing team. You don't take tough, challenged shots. You take open threes, you get drives and kicks, you get it inside, you get to the rim. And I thought we did that. I thought we we missed a ton of layups. But that is all part of the growth process for us. I thought all of our young guys came in and contributed and made strides."
The game doesn't count as a win or loss for either team. In all reality, it's a win for both teams as they can take some things from this exhibition contest and get ready for their respective season openers.
Grace opens its regular season Saturday with a 3 p.m. homecoming game against Ohio-Eastern.
"Obviously, we need to execute better for us to be the kind of team we can," said Kessler. "Coach Crean and his men were able to take advantage of some of the things we didn't do very well. We didn't do a good job fronting in the post, and they took advantage of that. Again, turnovers hurt us. I thought we were able to run with the ball fairly well. We hurt from a lack of second-chance baskets. This is a practice game, and it's where we need to be. We wanted to play good teams early on and I think we learned a lot of things from this game in terms of spacing and those kinds of thigns. It was a great game, and it was a great opportunity for us, and I wish IU the very best."
The Hoosiers host Division III in-state school St. Joseph's Monday and then open the regular season Nov. 13 by hosting Howard.
