WINONA LAKE - Prior to Saturday's Mid-Central Conference men's basketball game at the Orthopaedic Capital Center, Grace College honored Duke Johnson for becoming the 42nd player in the program's history to score 1,000 points.
In a 75-63 loss to the visiting Marian University Knights, the 6-foot-11 junior only added eight points to his career total, however, and the 17th-ranked Lancers fell into a third-place tie in the MCC with Huntington.Despite trailing 41-27 at halftime and watching Marian connect on 13 three-point attempts, Grace made things interesting down the stretch.
The Lancers cut the deficit to seven, 60-53, but turnovers on three consecutive possessions did them in.
"We put ourselves in position in the second half, we just didn't finish it," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team fell to 16-8 overall and 6-4 in the MCC. "We got it down to seven, and then we turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions. We can't afford to do that."
The Lancers turned the ball over a total of 15 times, while Marian committed just eight turnovers.
With the win, the Knights improved to 13-8 overall and 4-7 in the MCC.
Indiana Wesleyan sits alone atop the MCC standings with an 11-0 record, followed by St. Francis (8-3), Grace (6-4), Huntington (6-4), Spring Arbor (5-6), Marian (4-7), Taylor (4-7), Bethel (3-8) and Goshen (1-9).
Marian also beat Grace 71-50 on Dec. 4. In that game, Johnson left the game with an injury early in the first half and scored just four points.
Saturday, the Lancers' talented center played 35 of the game's 40 minutes but only managed to get off six shots and did not attempt a free throw.
Johnson, who entered the game averaging a team-best 16.5 points per contest, never got into any sort of offensive rhythm as Marian was able to draw key offensive fouls on him.
"Hats off to Marian, they did what they had to do to beat us," said Kessler. "They shot the ball well, and they knocked Duke around time and time again. They did what they had to do to win."
Sophomore point guard Bruce Grimm Jr. led Grace with 27 points, while senior guard David Henry added 11 points.
Johnson, however, is the key to the Lancers' offense. In games that Johnson has scored 10 points or more this season, Grace is 13-1. On the flip side of the coin, Grace is 0-6 in games the Jimtown High School product has scored fewer than 10 points.
The Lancers, who got six points from junior Dayton Merrell and four points from freshman Greg Miller, finished the game 22 of 55 (40 percent) from the field overall, 7 of 19 from three-point range, and 12 of 14 at the charity stripe.
Marian was 24 of 54 (44 percent) overall, 13 of 24 from the arc, and 14 of 17 at the free throw line.
Senior Jordan Tucker paced the Knights with a game-high 30 points, while junior Alex Sylvester and sophomore Aaron Evans chipped in with 16 points each.
The Lancers, who had won six of seven games prior to Saturday, host Huntington Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Grace has six games remaining in the regular season, all of which are against MCC opponents.
"We've got to learn from this game and use it to get better," said Kessler.
MARIAN 75, GRACE 63
Marian 41 34 - 75
Grace 27 36 - 63
Marian - Matt Allee 3-4 1-2 7, Alex Sylvester 5-10 2-2 16, Aaron Evans 5-16 3-4 16, Brandon Malone 0-2 4-4 4, Jordan Tucker 10-19 4-5 30, Anthony Furlin 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Stafford 1-2 0-0 2, Matt Dickerson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 14-17 75.
Grace - Dayton Merrell 1-5 4-4 6, Tannan Peters 1-4 0-0 2, Duke Johnson 4-6 0-1 8, David Henry 4-9 0-0 11, Bruce Grimm Jr. 9-19 6-7 27, Michael Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Peattie 1-3 0-0 3, Elliot Smith 0-3 2-2 2, Greg Miller 2-6 0-0 4, Dennis Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 12-14 63.
Three-pointers - Marian 13 (Tucker 6, Sylvester 4, Evans 3), Grace 7 (Henry 3, Grimm 3, Peattie); Rebounds - Marian 25 (Sylvester 7), Grace 33 (Johnson 9); Turnovers - Marian 8, Grace 15; Fouls - Marian 12, Grace 20. Fouled out - none; Records: Marian 13-8, 4-7 MCC, Grace 16-8, 6-4 MCC
