Grace men just 6 of 27 from the field in second half of 63-55 loss
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE – It's a simple reality of basketball – you have to put the ball in the basket to score. The Grace College Lancers struggled to do so Wednesday night, particularly in the second half, and as a result they fell 63-55 to Dallas Baptist University in the first round of the NCCAA National Championships at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The Lancers, hosting the eight-team men's tournament for the second straight year, led the Patriots 28-20 at halftime but made just 6 of 27 attempts over the final 20 minutes and finished the game 17 of 60 from the field overall. Grace, outscored 43-27 in the second half, was just 3 of 18 from the arc and 18 of 25 from the free throw line in the loss. “I thought we had some decent looks, but you gotta make them,” said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team fell to 22-12 on the season. “We gave up 43 points in the second half, we don't do that, and tonight we did. “I don't have a good reason, I don't have a good excuse,” continued Kessler. “In the first half we outrebounded them ... in the second half they outrebounded us. We got 13 offensive rebounds, and only had 15 total points on putbacks. You've got to make shots, and we didn't.” The Patriots, who improved to 16-15 on the season, only made 9 of 28 attempts from the field overall in the first half, but were 15 of 28 after the intermission. Dallas Baptist didn't light up the scoreboard by any means, but the Patriots' 43 percent shooting was night and day different from the Lancers’ 28 percent. “We were going for it, we came out busting, but you can't shoot that poorly,” said Kessler, whose team led 11-2 early. “We were of 27 (overall), 1 of 11 (from the arc), 14 of 20 (from the free throw line), for crying out loud. You know, if you're gonna give up that many points, you better be able to score points.” The Lancers were outscored 40-22 in the paint, and Grace's bench was outscored 36-9. “Their bench killed our bench,” said Kessler. With 14 points, Tim Simmons was the only Dallas Baptist starter to score in double figures. Amari Bryant scored a game-high 16 points off the bench for the Patriots, while fellow reserves Jonathan Perry and Chris Strong scored 10 and eight points, respectively. Starters Myles Johnson and Shannon Lilly scored eight and five points, respectively, in the win. For the Lancers, who were scheduled to play in the loser's bracket at 10:15 a.m. today against the Simpson University Red Hawks, Brandon Vanderhegghen led the way with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Caleb Featherston finished with 11 points and eight boards, and Logan Irwin chipped in with 10 points, two boards, two assists and two steals. Niko Read scored eight points in the loss, while Chad Hoffer and Kyle Fillman scored seven and five points, respectively. “We just didn't play well on the offensive end, or the defensive end either,” said Kessler. “I don't know what happened. It was a collapse. We had fans here, and (Director of Athletics) Chad Briscoe does a great job with the tournament ... we let them down.” The Lancers, who didn't score a point over the final 3:06 of the game, squandered a 10-point lead in the second half. Grace led 55-52 after a bucket by Irwin, but the Patriots finished the game on an 11-0 run, advancing to today's 5:15 p.m. game against the Emmanuel College Lions. The Lancers missed their final six shots from the field, as well as well as a pair of charity tosses, during the three-minute drought. In other men’s games: LEE UNIV. 63, CROWLEY’S RIDGE 61 In the first men’s game of the day, top-seeded Lee University trailed 34-31 at halftime of a 63-61 win. Chase Cullen led Lee with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Stephan Burrows and Cory Billingsley chipped in with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Quinn Cooper led Crowley’s Ridge with a game-high 23 points, while Tim Shepard scored 13 points in the loss and Ryan Kleffer and Javeon Walker added nine and eight points, respectively. Lee outrebounded Crowley’s Ridge 47-35, including 18-10 on the offensive glass. COLORADO CHRISTIAN 68, CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN 61 Led by Michael Brown’s 23 points, Colorado Christian beat Cincinnati Christian 68-61. Joey Trinkle and Wayne McCullough scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the win, while Zach McLemore and Tyler Shields scored nine and eight points. Fourth-seeded Colorado Christian won the game despite shooting just 39 percent from the field. Fifth-seeded Cincinnati Christian made just 35 percent of its shots and got 18 points from Mitch McLeish. Will Masse, Nick Seibert and Kenny Gaynor all scored 11 points in the loss. EMMANUEL COLLEGE 78, SIMPSON UNIVERSITY 50 In the most decisive victory in the men’s bracket, second-seeded Emmanuel College beat No. 7 seed Simpson University 78-50. Luke Miller led a balanced Emmanuel offense with 14 points, while Michael Stanley and Johan Pennerat scored 10 and nine points, respectively. Jeremy Burgess scored eight points in the win, while Patrick McCrary and Zach Lillie scored seven each. Dalton Thacker led Simpson with 11 pints, with Ian Corella and Shaquille Jones chipping in with nine and eight points, respectively.
