INDIANAPOLIS - Grace College's men's basketball team hasn't shot the ball particularly well this season.
In the first four games of the season, the Lancers were able to overcome their shooting woes and won those games by an average of 35 points.Tuesday's night battle of NAIA Division II top 20 teams at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis was a different story, however, as the 17th-ranked Lancers fell 67-63 to No. 7 Indiana University-Southeast.
"We just didn't shoot the ball well," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler. "We came up a little short. I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet. We needed a test early in the season, now we need to learn from it."
The Lancers finished the game 21 of 55 (38 percent) from the field overall and 6 of 24 from three-point range, while the Grenadiers were 25 of 61 (41 percent) overall and 7 of 27 behind the arc.
Both teams are now 4-1 on the season.
Four of Grace College's six treys came from senior guard David Henry, who hit back-to-back three-pointers in the second half to cut IU-Southeast's 57-50 advantage to one point.
"David hit a couple big shots in the second half," said Kessler. "We needed them. We were in danger of being run out the door."
The Grenadiers' seven-point advantage was the biggest lead of the game for either team.
The hard-fought contest featured 11 lead changes and seven ties.
"If you look at the stats, things were pretty even," said said Kessler. "We just needed to shoot the ball better."
Grace College outrebounded IU-Southeast 35-33, and the Lancers had 21 turnovers to the Grenadiers' 19.
Trailing 66-63, the Lancers had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining, but Elliot Smith's three-pointer came up short and Reginald Breeden grabbed the rebound for the Grenadiers.
Breeded hit one of two free throws with just under three seconds remaining to account for the final score.
Jazzmarr Ferguson, who entered the game second in the NAIA in scoring at 28.5 points per game, led IU-Southeast with a game-high 21 points.
Rick Bodiford added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Darryl Bell scored chipped in with 15 points, five rebounds and four steals and Greg Grimes contributed 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
For the Lancers, Tannan Peters led the way with 14 points and eight boards. Henry finished the game with 13 points, while Greg Miller added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Bruce Grimm Jr., who scored 40 points and made a state finals-record eight treys for Rochester in 2009, finished the game with four points, seven assists and three steals for the Lancers.
Grace will be in action again Friday at 7 p.m. against Judson University in the Judson Classic.
IU-SOUTHEAST 67, GRACE COLLEGE 63
IUSE 39 28 - 67
GC 38 25 - 63
IUSE - Greg Grimes 4-12 2-2 10, Brice Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Rick Bodiford 6-11 3-7 15, Jazzmarr Ferguson 8-21 1-2 21, Darryl Bell 6-11 0-0 15, Reginald Breeden 0-0 2-4 2, Aaron Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Cagel 1-3 0-0 2, O.J. Bell 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Lawson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 10-17 67.
Grace - Dayton Merrell 2-4 1-2 6, Tannan Peters 4-10 6-7 14, Duke Johnson 4-8 1-1 9, David Henry 4-11 1-2 13, Bruce Grimm Jr. 1-7 2-2 4, Lee Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Peattie 0-2 0-0 0, Elliot Smith 2-7 1-3 6, Greg Miller 4-6 3-4 11, Dennis Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 15-21 63.
