WINONA LAKE – Actions speak louder than words. And following Tuesday night's 70-54 loss to the Marian Unviersity Knights, a loss that seemed worse than the final score indicated, Grace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler wasn't shy about saying he's tired of hearing what his players can do – he wants to see it on the court. "We got pushed around, we were too soft," said Kessler, whose team lost for the third time in seven games. "We got down, and then (the players) dropped their heads and were moping around. We didn't have any fire in our belly. We didn't come out with any sence of unity. We didn't do things collectively." The Lancers, ranked fifth in this week's NAIA Division II national poll, fell to 20-6 overall and 10-5 in the Mid-Central College Conference. Three weeks ago, the Lancers were 17-2 and 7-1. With their fifth-straight win over Grace, the 24th-ranked Knights improved to 17-8 and 8-6. As a result of Grace's loss and 14th-ranked Indiana Weslyan University's buzzer-beating win over No. 20 St. Francis, the Lancers and IWU are now tied atop the MCC standings. Both Grace and IWU have three MCC games remaining, and with two wins over the Lancers this season, IWU owns the tiebreaker if it comes down to that. "Every game is huge," said Kessler, whose team plays at St. Francis Saturday, hosts Bethel Tuesday and finishes the regular season at Taylor on Feb. 18. "There's no margin for error. The fluff is over. This conference is loaded with good teams, and we're gonna see what kind of team we are." Trailing Grace and IWU in the MCC standings are St. Francis (9-6), Marian (8-6), Goshen (8-7), Bethel (7-8), Huntington (7-8), Taylor (6-8), Spring Arbor (6-9) and Mt. Vernon Nazarene (3-12). In Tuesday night's 16-point loss, the Lancers led 31-29 at halftime but were outscored 41-23 in the second half. Grace, the highest-scoring team in the conference at 78 points per game, made just 7 of 26 (27 percent) field goal attempts in the second half against the MCC's top defense. The Knights give up an average of 64 points per game, and of the 23 points Grace scored in the second half, six came via late three-pointers. Marian was just 42 percent from the field overall in the game, made just 6 of 20 from the arc, got outrebounded and only shot 12 free throws the entire contest, while Grace shot 12 charity tosses in the second half. Yet it was the Knights who dominated the game, mainly with their hustle, heart and desire. "You've got to want it," said Kessler. "We didn't have any fire in our belly. And this is what happens. Now we're in a dogfight with three games to play." The Lancers, who shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, shot 41 percent for the game. Grace, one of the better shooting teams in the country, was just 4 of 18 from the arc. Duke Johnson led the Lancers with 16 points, while Bruce Grimm Jr., and Greg Miller chipped in with 10 points each. Miller posted his second-straight double-double by pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Marian got a game-high 22 points out of Aaron Evans, while Alex Sylvester added 21 and Jake Sullivan chipped in with 12.
MARIAN 70, GRACE 54 Marian 29 41 – 70 Grace 31 23 – 54 Marian – Jake Stafford 4-9 0-0 8, Michael Barton 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Sylvester 6-13 6-6 21, Aaron Evans 9-18 4-4 22, Eric Harris 1-4 0-0 3, Tyler Kleinschmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Jess Chadwell 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Roberts 0-0 2-2 2, Jake Sullivan 5-13 0-0 12, Dwight Cliff 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 12-12 70. Grace – Greg Miller 5-10 0-0 10, Dennis Williams 1-2 1-2 3, Jacob Peattie 0-0 0-0 0, Elliot Smith 2-7 1-3 6, Bruce Grimm Jr. 3-12 4-8 10, Lee Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Niko Read 0-2 0-0 0, Dayton Merrell 0-1 0-0 0, Benjamin Euler 1-1 0-0 3, Tannan Peters 2-2 0-0 6, Duke Johnson 5-8 6-7 16. Totals 19-46 12-20 54. Three-pointers – Marian 6 (Sylvester 3, Sullivan 2, Harris), Grace 4 (Peters 2, Smith, Euler); Rebounds – Marian 29 (Stafford 10), Grace 30 (Miller 12); Turnovers – Marian 8, Grace 15; Fouls – Marian 17, Grace 17; Fouled out – none; Records: Marian 17-8 (8-6 MCC), Grace 20-6 (10-5 MCC)
