WINONA LAKE – Grace College’s men’s basketball game with Marian University Tuesday night was the perfect example of why games are played on the court, not on paper. Hosting the seventh-seeded Marian Knights in the first round of the eight-team Crossroads League Tournament, the second-seeded Lancers struggled to execute offensively and fell 62-54. The Lancers, however, weren’t the only ‘favored’ team to lose, as No. 1 seed Indiana Wesleyan fell to Huntington and No. 4 seed Spring Arbor fell to Taylor. “That’s a testament to the depth of this conference,” said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team finished second in the regular-season league standings and entered Tuesday’s game at the Orthopaedic Capital Center as the defending tournament champion. “All 10 teams in the conference are in the top 25 in the nation in terms of strength of schedule, six of them are in the top 16,” added Kessler. “You better come ready to play in this league, and we didn’t do that.” The Lancers, who fell to 21-9 on the season, made just 18 of 53 field goal attempts overall, inclucing a 3-of-18 performance from the arc. As cold as it was outside, Grace’s offense was just as cold inside the OCC. “A college basketball team can’t shoot 34 percent and expect to win,” said Kessler. “We just didn’t execute. We got good looks, the shots just didn’t fall. I thought we’d be ready to play, but obviously we weren’t. It’s disappointing beyond words.” Last season, the Lancers won the conference tournament and got an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Branson, Mo. This season, Grace’s fate is in the hands of the selection committee. Indiana Wesleyan earned an automatic bid by virtue of its regular-season conference championship, while Bethel, Huntington, Marian or Taylor will get the other after Tuesday’s conference tournament finale. In Saturday’s semifinal round, No. 3 seed Bethel will host Marian, while No. 5 seed Taylor will host No. 8 seed Huntington. “This is a good conference,” said Kessler. “Any team can beat you on a given night. You better be ready, and we weren’t. You have to make plays, and we didn’t.” The Lancers fell behind 8-0 early and didn’t score during the first four minutes of the game. Grace opened the second half with a scoreless drought that lasted nearly nine minutes. Bruce Grimm Jr. scored the Lancers first points in the second half, as his basket with 11:25 remaining in the game cut Marian’s lead to 39-29. Grace cut the deficit to six, 39-33, but Marian evenutally pushed its advantage to 13 points. The Lancers cut it to six again when a bucket by Grimm with 1:20 made it 56-50, but that was as close as they got. Marian, which improved to 17-12 on the season, made 17 of 45 attempts overall, 6 of 19 from three-point range. Jake Stafford led Marian with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Jess Chadwell added 12 points, Nick Achille scored 11 points and Jason Riley chipped in with 10 points and seven boards. For Grace, Greg Miller scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and a 5-of-5 effort from the free throw line. Outside of Miller, Grace was 10 of 40 from the field. Grimm finished the game with 11 points and was the only other Lancer to score more than six points.
MARIAN 62, GRACE 54 Marian 31 31 – 62 Grace 27 27 – 54 Marian – Nick Achille 3-10 4-4 11, Jake Stafford 5-14 3-4 16, Dwight Cliff 3-6 2-2 9, Jason Riley 3-8 4-7 10, Chad Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Adams 1-2 1-2 4, John Goodlow 0-1 0-0 0, Jess Chadwell 2-3 8-12 12. Totals 17-45 22-31 62. Grace – Elliot Smith 1-6 3-3, Greg Miller 8-13 5-5 22, Karl Columbus 1-8 0-1 2, Bruce Grimm Jr. 3-13 5-7 11, Dennis Wiliams 0-0 0-0 0, Lee Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Niko Read 2-6 0-0 5, Caleb Featherston 1-2 0-0 2, Brandon Vanderhegghen 0-2 2-3 2, Tannan Peters 0-1 0-0 2, Jared Treadway 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Fillman 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 18-53 15-19 54. Three-pointers – Marian 6 (Stafford 3, Achille, Cliff, Adams), Grace 3 (Smith, Miller, Read); Rebounds – Marian 29 (Stafford 7, Riley 7), Grace 35 (Miller 5, Read 5, Vanderhegghen 5); Turnovers – Marian 11, Grace 14; Records: Marian 17-12, Grace 21-9
