WINONA LAKE – Two days before they will carve turkey with their families for Thanksgiving, the Grace College Lancers carved up the Mt. Vernon Nazarene University Cougars. In the Crossroads League opener for both men’s basketball teams, the Lancers used a 34-6 run that bridged the first and second halves as they cruised to a 78-51 win Tuesday evening at the Orthopaedic Capital Center. Grace, No. 8 in the NAIA Division II national poll, got scoring from 13 different players and improved to 4-1 on the season. Mt. Vernon, coached by former Grace standout point guard and assistant coach Matt Moore, fell to 5-3 on the season. “One of our biggest strengths is our depth,” said Lancers coach Jim Kessler. “We got contributions from a number of players.” Junior Greg Miller led Grace with 13 points and nine rebounds, while senior Bruce Grimm Jr. added 12 points and seven assists. Junior Jared Treadway scored 10 points off the bench, while sophomore reserve Adrian Makolli and freshman Caleb Featherston added eight points each. Sophomore Karl Columbus struggled shooting in his first action of the season, but pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. By Kessler’s rule, Columbus will start Tuesday’s game at No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan after leading the Lancers on the glass. “Karl Columbus got a little nasty tonight,” Kessler said with a smile. “That’s the effort he gives, he gets after it. He only scored two points, but he led us in rebounds in his first game of the season. He’s like a bulldog, he gets after it.” Senior Jason Dawson led the Cougars with a game-high 20 points, while freshmen Mark Lieberman and Caleb Williams added 11 points each. That trio scored 42 of the team’s 51 points. Julian Henderson scored five points in the loss, while Zach Zeltman and Malcolm Pittman rounded out Mt. Vernon’s scoring with two points each. “I think the biggest thing was they got so many easy looks,” Moore said of the Lancers. “When you play a top-tier team, you have to withstand their runs, and we did that early, but they went on a run we didn’t have an answer for.” Grace scored the first nine points of the game, but the Cougars came right back with nine unanswered points of their own and eventually took a 17-13 lead. That’s when the Lancers took over, closing the first half on a 26-6 run and opening the second half with an 8-0 spurt. “You’ve got to take care of your home court in this league,” said Kessler. “Mt. Vernon is young and a little banged up, but Matt will get them going. This is a tough place to play if you’re a young team. Matt will be patient with them, and they’ll get better.” Kessler knows first hand Moore’s passion for the game. Moore is fourth on Grace’s all-time list for assists. His younger brothers, Scott and Marcus Moore, are sixth and 10th, respetively, on that last. Matt Moore was Kessler’s lead assistant when the Lancers made back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament in 2008 and 2009. And Scott Moore is currently an assistant coach with the Lancers. “It’s like a dad playing his son,” Kessler said of coaching against Matt Moore. “I watch the scores around the conference, and I’m always happy to see Matt’s team win. I want them to be successful. The Moore family means a lot to me, as well as Grace College basketball.”
