WINONA LAKE – Logan Irwin earned MVP honors and led Grace College’s men’s basketball team to a 72-60 victory over IU-East on Saturday in the title game of the Bennigan’s Terry Polston Hoops for Hope Tournament. The Lancers (8-1) used staunch defense to knock off the athletic Red Wolves (8-2), who are receiving votes in the NAIA coaches’ poll along with Grace. Irwin tallied 20 points, six assists and five rebounds to spearhead Grace’s performance. In addition to Irwin being the Tournament MVP, Brandon Vanderhegghen was named to the All-Tournament Team and Niko Read was the Hoppus Mental Attitude winner. In the opening half, Grace ripped off 10 unanswered points at the midway point. Vanderhegghen buried two three-pointers during the run, turning a five-point deficit into a five-point lead with 6:41 left in the half. The Lancers were ahead 34-26 at the break, led by eight points from Vanderhegghen. A layup from Dennis Williams gave Grace a 12-point lead at 47-35 with 13:05 remaining in the game, but IU-East made one more push. The Red Wolves ran off nine straight points to slice Grace’s margin to three with 10 minutes to play. The Lancers countered with a 13-2 run of their own, regaining a double-digit lead that would not dissolve. Williams finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Vanderhegghen had 11 points, four boards and four steals. Kyle Fillman and Read tallied nine points each, and Chad Hoffer scored five points off the bench. As a team Grace had 12 assists and just nine turnovers. After struggling to shoot 31 percent from the field in the first half, the Lancers hit 54 percent of their shots over the final 20 minutes. Grace also improved dramatically from the free throw line, going from 50 percent in the first half to 82 percent in the second half. The Lancers open Crossroads League play Tuesday with a home game against Taylor University at 7 p.m.
