MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – Grace College's men’s basketball team won its Mid-Central College Conference opener 91-69 at Mount Vernon Nazarene. The ninth-ranked Lancers, who had five players in double-figure scoring, earned their seventh straight victory to open the season. The Cougars (4-3; 0-1 MCC) led 10-9 to start their MCC debut, but the Lancers rattled off 11 unanswered points to take a lead they didn't relinquish. Mount Vernon battled back to cut the margin to four, but Grace was able to build their lead back up to 10 on a deep three-pointer by Jacob Peattie as the first half expired. After Grace earned a 21-point lead at the midway point of the second half, Mount Vernon mounted its comeback attempt with three-point shooting. The Cougars, who hit 11 treys in the game, hit four threes in less than four minutes to chop Grace’s lead in half. Back-to-back three-pointers by Ben Severns made the score 71-62 with 5:31 to play. But Elliot Smith drained a trey of his own on the next possession, and Grace put the game out of reach with an 18-1 run. “For our conference opener, I’m happy with how our guys came to play today,” said Grace head coach Jim Kessler. “Offensively, we handled the ball well, and I thought we weathered the storms each time Mount Vernon made a run.” Grace, which outscored Mount Vernon 38-11 in bench points, was led by Greg Miller’s 19 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Miller nailed 9 of 12 shot attempts to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Duke Johnson had a well-rounded night with 14 points to go along with six boards. He also recorded a game-high seven assists with zero turnovers. Bruce Grimm Jr. tallied 18 points, four boards and three assists, Peattie finished with 15 points and six boards and Smith added 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Overall, Grace’s defense forced the Cougars into 21 turnovers and held them to 40-percent shooting from the field. The Lancers, on the other hand, tallied 18 assists on 13 turnovers and connected on over half of their field goals (52.2 percent). For Kessler, he earned the first victory over Cougars’ head coach Matt Moore in their head-to-head coaching matchup. Moore played under Kessler for four years and was also an assistant coach at Grace before taking Mount Vernon’s head coaching position. The Lancers will continue MCC action with a Top 10 matchup with Indiana Wesleyan on Tuesday when No. 9 Grace will host No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. The updated NAIA Top 25 poll will be released Monday.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WINONA LAKE – In their first matchup as Mid-Central Conference foes, Grace kept Mount Vernon Nazarene at bay thanks to a late first-half run as Grace won its MCC opener 77-65. The 24th-ranked Lady Lancers (7-2; 1-0 MCC) held the Lady Cougars (5-1; 0-1 MCC) to 31.3 percent shooting from the field and grabbed 10 more rebounds to deal Mount Vernon its first loss of the season. “We didn’t play real well in the first half, but we played well enough to be ahead by 14 points. We were a little impatient and missed some passes on offense,” said Grace head coach Scott Blum. “We came out more composed and executed our offense in the second half. I’m pleased with their effort tonight, and this is a good way to start conference play in a tough MCC.” Neither team was able to grab a significant lead for the majority of the first half until the final five minutes. With Grace leading 19-16, the Lady Lancers nearly doubled their point total in a little over four minutes. Grace used a 16-4 spurt, sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Kiera Gray, to go ahead 35-20. The Lady Lancers never looked back. Despite committing 12 first-half turnovers, the Lady Lancers held Mount Vernon to 28.1 percent shooting from the field to enter the halftime break with a 37-23 advantage. The second half was a back-and-forth affair with the teams mostly trading baskets. Grace gradually built up its largest lead of the game at 63-43 with 4:20 remaining, but Mount Vernon was able to cut the final margin back down to 12 by the conclusion. Gray scored all 14 of her points in the first half. Emily Bidwell tied for team honors in scoring with 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench. She also grabbed six rebounds, five of which were offensive. Hayley Cashier finished with 11 points and six boards, and Hannah Lengel tallied nine points and four assists. Jayla Starks nabbed five steals and five rebounds, and Danielle Boykin scored eight points in 18 minutes of play. The Lady Lancers will return to MCC play after the Thanksgiving break with a matchup on the road against Indiana Wesleyan University Wednesday. The Wildcats are currently No. 3 in the NAIA.
