Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
HUNTINGTON - Grace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler held the stat sheet out front for reporters to see.
"Did you see the stat sheet?" he asked after the Lancers suffered a frustrating 75-70 loss at Huntington on Saturday.
"We out-fieldgoaled them big-time," he said, "and we almost doubled them on the boards, but they beat us on the free throw line, 34-17 and 26-10. The disparity at the line ... in my opinion, we outplayed them."
That's what made this loss so difficult for Grace to take. Not only did the loss in the second round of the Mid-Central Conference Tournament end the Lancers' season, the loss came in a game they outplayed Huntington for most of 40 minutes.
The Lancers (12-22, 4-10 MCC) grabbed a 9-7 lead with 14:24 left in the first half and never let Huntington (16-17, 7-8 MCC) reclaim it until the 6:15 mark of the second half, when 6-foot-4 MCC Player of the Year David Porter received an alley oop pass that he slammed home to put the Forresters in front 54-52.
Once they claimed that lead, they kept it the rest of the way.
The Lancers held leads of anywhere from one to 10 points for more than 28 minutes of the 40-minute game. They hit 27 of 54 field goals, 50 percent, compared to Huntington's 22 of 53, 42 percent. They outrebounded Huntington 41-24.
But Huntington came away with the win.
That's why Kessler thought free throws played a big part in the Lancer loss.
Grace was whistled for 24 fouls, and Huntington converted 26 of 34 free throws, 77 percent. Huntington was whistled for 15 fouls, and Grace converted 10 of 17 free throws, 59 percent.
Kessler found a sympathetic ear in coach Steve Platt, albeit the winning coach who felt relieved to pull this one out.
"If I'm Jim," Platt said, "I'd say maybe the free throws played a big part in the game."
Huntington hit 10 of 13 free throws in the final 3:17. That's not to say the Lancers didn't have their chances at the line late, because they did. They had 13 attempts in the final 5:13 but hit just seven.
With Grace down 63-58, 6-5 freshman forward Matt Abernethy scored inside and drew a foul. He missed the free throw, making it a 63-60 game with 3:05 left.
With Grace down 69-64 with 39 seconds left, Abernethy drew a foul and had two attempts. He missed both.
With Grace down 69-66 with 27 seconds left, Corey Smith made only 1 of 2 free throws.
But if it weren't for Abernethy, the son of former Indiana University player Tom Abernethy and the MCC Co-Newcomer of the Year, the Lancers may have never been in position to win in the first place. Abernethy, despite facing double-teams each time he caught the ball in the low post, led Grace with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and nine rebounds. He averages 23 points per game.
Like Abernethy, Huntington's star player, Porter, who averages 22 points per game, had his troubles at the end.
Porter, a high-flyer on the receiving end of three alley-oops, led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. But he hit just 5 of 11 free throws and kept giving Grace life in the final minute as he he went 1 of 2 from the line with 53 seconds left and 0 of 2 with 36 seconds left. Huntington led 68-64 with 53 seconds left and 69-64 with 36 seconds left.
After Huntington trailed much of the game, a run late in the second half put the Foresters in front.
Grace held a 50-43 lead with 9:09 left when Huntington made its surge. The Foresters outscored the Lancers 13-2 to take a 56-52 lead with 5:35 left.
Coming up big during the spurt was Porter, who scored six of the 13, and guard Brett Snodgrass, who tied the game at 50 with one of his four three-pointers.
"It's a 40-minute game," Platt said. " Eventually we knew we would make a run."
Grace led the majority of the game as Huntington couldn't handle the Lancers' frontcourt. Grace owned the Foresters on the boards, and its offense dominated the lane. Besides Abernethy, 6-6 senior starting center Dan Scharlach scored 13 on 6-of-8 shooting, and 6-8 freshman reserve forward Joe Saunders added 11 on 5-of-6 shooting.
"Grace has improved as the year went on," Platt said. "Scharlach played well. I thought we did a pretty good job on Abernethy, even though he had 21 points. I felt we limited his opportunities."
Said Kessler: "My men were warriors. They did everything I asked them to do as far as playing with heart and aggressiveness. We did what we wanted to do. We pounded the ball inside like we wanted to, and then you look at the free throw disparity..."
The Lancers outscored Huntington 20-8 on second-chance opportunities.
Negating the rebounds for Huntington were turnovers. While Grace is led by its big men, Huntington's strengths are guards and small forwards. The Foresters committed only five turnovers, including just one in the second half.
Grace finished the game with zero steals, and Huntington outscored Grace 19-4 on points off turnovers. Grace had 18 turnovers.
While Grace played Huntington more competitively this time, Huntington had the Lancers' number this year, going 3-0 against them. The Foresters won at Grace 100-83 and hosted and beat Grace 95-77 during the regular season.
Grace, a No. 7 seed, advanced to the second round of the tournament by winning at St. Francis, a No. 2 seed with a 21-12 record, 87-83. Huntington, a No. 6 seed, advanced to the second round of the tourment by winning at No. 3 seed Bethel.
Huntington plays at Marian, the No. 1 seed with a 22-3 record, in the championship game at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Two of Marian's three regular season losses came to Huntington, both in overtime.
HUNTINGTON 75
GRACE 70
Grace (12-22) 34 36 - 70
Huntington (16-17) 28 47 - 75
Grace FG FT A S R Pts.
Irwin 2-5 0-0 1 0 6 6
Smith 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 1
O'Dell (G) 0-4 0-0 3 0 2 0
Isensee 2-3 1-2 2 0 1 6
Abernethy (C) 9-17 3-7 3 0 9 21
Moore (G) 3-3 1-2 6 0 2 10
Saunders 5-6 1-1 0 0 3 11
Tonagel (F) 0-6 2-2 2 0 7 2
Scharlach (F) 6-8 1-1 0 0 5 13
Swanson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Team 6
Totals 27-54 10-17 17 0 41 70
Huntington FG FT A S R Pts.
Snodgrass (G) 5-11 3-3 1 0 2 17
Hill (G) 1-3 2-2 1 2 1 4
Thwaits 0-0 4-4 0 2 3 4
Wright (G) 5-11 5-6 7 1 5 16
Porter (F) 9-15 5-11 2 1 5 23
Yoder 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Ferrell 0-3 0-0 0 1 0 0
Leer 2-7 5-6 0 0 2 9
Gaff (F) 0-3 2-2 0 2 4 2
Team 2
Totals 22-53 26-34 11 9 24 75
Three-point goals -ÊGrace 6-17 (Moore 3-3, Irwin 2-4, Isensee 1-1, Tonagel 0-6, O'Dell 0-2, Smith 0-1), Huntington 5-20 (Snodgrass 4-9, Wright 1-3, Porter 0-3, Hill 0-2, Ferrell 0-2, Leer 0-1). Turnovers - Grace 18, Huntington 5. Fouled out -ÊIsensee, Saunders. Total fouls - Grace 24,
Huntington 15.
