WINONA LAKE – After trailing the majority of the game, Grace College's men's basketball team led when it mattered most Friday night. Overcoming double-digit deficits in both halves, the Lancers pulled out a 71-69 win over the visiting Daemen College Wildcats as junior point guard Bruce Grimm Jr. hit a jumper with just under six seconds remaining. Daemen had a chance to win the game, but senior Dom Mazzocchi's three-point attempt missed as time expired. "We defended our turf, but not by much," said Grace coach Jim Kessler, whose team trailed 60-50 with 7:34 left in the second half. "We work on game-ending situations in practice almost every day. We didn't panic." The Lancers, ranked sixth in this week's NAIA Division II national poll, improved to 9-1, while the Wildcats fell to 5-4. "Bruce is a competitor, you can see it in his eye," Kessler said of Grimm, who was the Necomer of the Year in the Mid-Central College Conferene last year. "He's one of those guys that thinks he's going to make his next shot, so he takes it. He's a true competitor." The former Rochester High School standout who scored 40 points in the 2009 Class 3A state championship game finished Friday's contest with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Sophomore Greg Miller scored 15 points for the Lancers, while junior Duke Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds and junior Elliot Smith chipped in with 10 points. Senior Jacob Peattie chipped in with seven points for Grace, and as Kessler was quick to point out, played pretty good defense on Daemen senior Casey Sheehan. The 5-foot-10 Sheehan finished the game with 15 points, but struggled to score in the second half with the 6-3 Peattie defending him. "I thought Jacob Peattie really got after No. 10 (Sheehan) in the second half," said Kessler. "He's a good shooter, but he struggled to score in the second half. Peattie did a nice job on him in the second half." Mazzocchi led the Wildcats with 20 points. Seniors Chandler Williams and Devon Dawson scored eight points each for Daemen, while sophomore Mark Coppola added seven points in the loss. The Wildcats, who finished the game 26 of 62 from the field overall and 13 of 18 from the free throw line, led by as many as 10 points in the first half. After trailing 27-17, Grace rallied and the teams were tied 33-33 at halftime. Daemen built a 57-45 lead in the second half, and led by 60-50 with 7:34 remaining when the Lancers made another comeback. A three-pointer by Peattie gave Grace a 64-63 advantage with 2:44 to play, and the teams battled back and forth the remainder of the game. A free throw by Grimm put the Lancers ahead 69-67 with 27 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats knotted the game again when junior Jim Regan scored with 12 seconds to play. Rather than call timeout, Kessler let his team play, and Grimm came through with his clutch shot with 5.7 seconds to play. "A lot of teams would have called a timeout there, but I wanted to let it play out," said Kessler, who earned his 640th career win. "Bruce has got a good understanding of what to do, and he came through with a big shot." The Lancers finished the game 23 of 51 from the field overall. Most of their shooting woes came from the arc, where they were just 4 of 15. Grace converted 21 of 30 free throw attempts and outrebounded the Wildcats 38-29. "That's a good team," Kessler said of Daemen, a school in Amherst, N.Y., that is moving up to NCAA Division II next year. "They're well-coached, and their 2-3 zone gave us fits." The Wildcats will play another Mid-Central College Conference school as they play at St. Francis today. Grace will be in action today at 3 p.m. when it hosts Roosevelt University.
GRACE COLLEGE 71, DAEMEN COLLEGE 69 DC 33 36 – 69 GC 33 38 – 71 Daemen – Dom Mazzocchi 5-18 10-12 20, Jim Regan 2-5 0-0 4, Mark Coppola 3-9 0-0 7, Devon Dawson 4-8 0-1 8, Kadeem Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Casey Sheehan 6-9 0-0 15, Jordan Greene 1-1 1-3 3, Chandler Williams 4-7 0-0 8, Gerald Beverly 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 26-62 13-18 69. Grace – Dayton Merrell 0-1 0-0 0, Greg Miller 6-10 3-3 15, Duke Johnson 4-12 6-6 14, Jacob Peattie 2-4 2-2 7, Bruce Grimm Jr. 6-11 3-7 17, Lee Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Niko Read 0-1 1-2 1, Elliot Smith 2-4 5-7 10, Tannan Peters 1-4 0-0 2, Karl Columbus 1-2 1-3 3, Dennis Williams 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-51 21-30 71. Three-point goals – Daemen 4 (Sheehan 3, Coppola), Grace 4 (Grimm 2, Peattie, Smith); Rebounds – Daemen 29 (Mazzocchi 6), Grace 38 (Johnson 8, Grimm 7); Assists – Daemen 14 (Coppola 6), Grace 14 (Grimm 7); Turnovers – Daemen 12, Grace 19; Fouls – Daemen 24, Grace 20; Fouled out – none; Records: Daemen 5-4, Grace 9-1
