POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - Grace College coach Jim Kessler wanted his team's season to end in the NAIA Division II men's basketball national tournament. Just not as soon, or in the fashion that it did.
Playing in the 32-team, single-elimination tournament for the third time in four years, the Grace College Lancers struggled shooting the ball and got little production from the bench as they fell 71-62 to the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers in a first-round game Thursday.
The 20th annual tournament is again being held at Keeter Gymnasium on the campus of College of the Ozarks, located just outside of Branson, Mo.
"We didn't shoot the ball well," said Kessler, whose team was 23 of 68 (34 percent) from the field overall and 8 of 25 from three-point range. "I thought we were a little impatient. We didn't play with a lot of rhythm, and we came out slow to start both halves."
The Lancers, who finished their season with a record of 22-11, trailed 23-15 midway through the first half but went on a 15-0 run and eventually led 35-32 at the intermission.
The teams battled back and forth in the second half before Dakota Wesleyan used an 8-2 spurt to take a 55-48 lead with 10:56 remaining in the game.
Grace got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
"We needed to make shots and get (defensive) stops," said junior Duke Johnson, who finished the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Lancers. "We missed way too many easy shots - shots that we usually make. It all boils down to not making shots and getting stops."
Freshman Greg Miller scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Grace, while senior David Henry chipped in with 13 points and sophomore Elliot Smith added 10 points.
Sophomore Bruce Grimm Jr., whose health and effectiveness was a big question mark after he missed two Mid-Central College Conference Tournament games with a staph infection in his leg, scored four points and dished out 10 assists while playing 38 of the game's 40 minutes. But like most of the Lancers, he struggled from the field.
The former Rochester High School standout, who transferred to Grace after playing his freshman season for NCAA Division I program East Tennessee State, made just 2 of 12 shots overall and was 0 of 4 from the arc.
"Our expectation was not to lose in the first round," said Miller. "We wanted a shot at knocking off Northwood, but we don't get to do that. This game tells us how much harder we have to work."
With the nine-point win, Dakota Wesleyan improved to 24-8 on the season and will play the second-ranked Northwood University Seahawks, a team coached by former Villanova Wildcats coach Rollie Massamino, in today's round of 16.
On paper, Thursday's first-round game appeared even, as Grace was ranked 16th in the final national poll and Dakota Wesleyan was 18th.
The Tigers were able to win the game by shooting 48 percent ( 27 of 56) from the field overall, 7 of 18 from the arc, and 10 of 14 from the charity stripe.
"We didn't get any production from our bench," said Kessler. "That's something that's been a strength for us."
Senior Brady Wiebe, the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player of the Year, led the Tigers with 16 points and six rebounds, while fellow starter Justin Nelson, a sophomore, scored 11 points.
Junior German Madueno led the Tigers' bench production with 11 points, while sophomore reserve Bo LaCroix added nine points.
Grace, which won the national championship in 1992 and advanced to the elite eight in both 2008 and 2009, is now 8-4 all-time in the tournament, while Dakota Wesleyan is 2-5.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN 71, GRACE 62
DW 32 39 - 71
G 35 27 - 62
DW - Justin Nelson 5-9 0-0 11, Chase Walder 3-8 0-0 7, Brady Wiebe 6-13 4-5 16, Jordan Long 3-4 2-3 8, Jake Kneeland 1-3 0-1 3, Kristopher Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Bo LaCroix 3-4 0-0 9, Larry Swann 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Dykstra 2-2 1-1 5, Tristan Washington 0-3 1-2 1, German Madueno 4-7 2-2 11. Totals 27-56 10-14 71.
Grace - Greg Miller 7-15 0-1 16, Duke Johnson 6-14 3-3 15, David Henry 4-10 1-3 13, Elliot Smith 2-4 4-4 10, Bruce Grimm Jr. 2-12 0-0 4, Michael Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Peattie 1-3 0-0 2, Dayton Merrell 0-3 0-0 0, Tannan Peters 0-3 0-0 0, Stephen Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0, Dennis Williams 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 23-68 8-11 62.
