Lancers Can't Overcome Sluggish StartWINONA LAKE – Coach Jim Kessler said it six different ways following his Grace College men’s basketball team’s 79-72 loss to Marian University Tuesday night. Each time, however, no matter how different the words, the message was the same. To paraphrase Kessler, no team in the Crossroads League can be taken lightly. There are no nights off. There’s no so-called easy wins. The St. Francis Cougars, ranked No. 2 in the country in the latest NAIA Div. II poll, were reminded of that last night as they fell 83-79 to unranked Huntington University. After scoring the first bucket of the game, Kessler’s Lancers gave up 16 consecutive points to the Knights, who entered the game 0-6 in the league standings. Marian pushed its advantage to 17 points, taking a 26-9 lead before Grace started chipping away. The Lancers trimmed the deficit to five on multiple occasions, but got no closer, as they fell to 9-10 on the season and 1-6 in the league standings. Marian improved to 10-9 overall. “We cut it to five a couple times, and we outscored them in the second half, but we dug ourselves a hole in the first half,” said Kessler. “That was the bottom team in the league, but there are no bad teams in our league. In this league, you have to come prepared to play everybody. You can’t take a night off, or just show up. “Look at some of the teams at the top, if they take a night off they get beat, too. You just can’t do that in this league.” Marian led 42-31 at halftime, and the Lancers outscored the Knights 41-37 in the second half. The teams were nearly even in every statistical category. The biggest differences in the game were Marian’s 16-0 run in the first half, and the Knights making 22 of 22 attempts at the free throw line. Grace shot 22 free throws as well, but missed eight of them in the seven-point loss. “They were perfect at the line,” Kessler said of the Knights. “It’s hard to beat team when they go 22 of 22 at the line.” Marian was 24 of 52 from the field overall and 9 of 17 from three-point range, while Grace was 26 of 59 and 6 of 15. Wesley Stowers led the Knights with a game-high 21 points, while Sam Guymon and Curtis Green scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, and Andrew Jordan finished with 12 points. Erik Bowen led Grace’s balanced scoring effort with 11 points, while Braxton Linville, Chad Hoffer, Tre Olive and Jaret Sons scored 10 points each. Stephen Halstead and Logan Godfrey tallied nine and eight points, respectively, while Charlie Warner rounded out Grace’s scoring with four points. “We came back, we just couldn’t sustain it,” said Kessler. “And you can’t dig yourself a hole like we did. You just can’t do that. You can’t take nights off in this league, you’ll get beat.” After last night’s games, there are four teams within a game of the lead in the 10-team Crossroads League standings. No. 14 Bethel is 6-1, while No. 2 St. Francis, No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan and No. 7 Taylor are all 5-2. Grace is in action again Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Spring Arbor University.
MARIAN UNIVERSITY 79, GRACE COLLEGE 72 MU 42 37 – 79 GC 31 41 – 72 Marian – Wesley Stowers 6-15 8-8 21, James Crowley 2-3 0-0 5, Patrick Bell 3-5 0-0 6, Sam Guymon 5-6 6-6 18, Curtis Green 4-9 6-6 17, Jake Mills 0-1 0-0 0, T Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Jordan 4-12 2-2 12. Totals 24-52 22-22 79. Grace – Logan Godfrey 3-10 2-4 8, Erik Bowen 5-11 1-4 11, Braxton Linville 4-9 1-1 10, Stephen Halstead 2-2 4-4 9, Chad Hoffer 3-9 2-3 10, Tre Olive 4-7 2-4 10, Charlie Warner 2-3 0-0 4, Jaret Sons 3-7 2-2 10. Totals 26-59 14-22 72. Three-pointers – Marian 9 (Green 3, Guymon 2, Jordan 2, Stowers, Crowley), Grace 6 (Sons 2, Hoffer 2, Linville, Halstead); Rebounds – Marian 28 (Jordan 7), Grace 31 (Bowen 6, Olive 6); Turnovers – Marian 10, Grace 10; Fouls – Marian 21, Grace 14; Fouled out – Bell, Guymon; Records: Marian 10-9 (1-6 CL), Grace 9-10 (1-6 CL)
