WINONA LAKE – Grace College’s offense was pretty good Tuesday night. Its defense was even better. Hosting the Taylor University Trojans in the Crossroads League opener for both men’s basketball teams, the Lancers shot 50 percent from the field and got production from a number of players. What set the Lancers apart and led them to a 72-52 win, however, was their defensive effort. Grace held the Trojans to just seven points for nearly the first 14 minutes of the game. Taylor, which trailed 31-18 at halftime, made just 6 of 22 shots in the first half and only 9 of 27 in the second half. “When we’re playing well is when we’re playing defense like that,” said Grace coach Jim Kessler. “Taylor isn’t a bad team. We got after them, and our defense took them out of things.” A perfect example of the Lancers taking the Trojans out of rhythm was the defensive effort on 6-foot-3 junior guard Kyle Stidom. Stidom averages 13 points per game for Taylor and shoots 55 percent from the floor. Against Grace, he was of 0 of 3. His only three points came from the free throw line. “Stidom is a good player,” said Kessler. “He only scored three points tonight. That’s a great effort on defense by our guys.” Darayl Jordan led Taylor with nine points, while Jesse Coffey added eight, Tim Fleming chipped in with seven and Keaton Hendricks and Ian Dutcher finished with six points each. For Grace, starting point guard Logan Irwin led the way with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Chad Hoffer came off the bench and tallied 15 points, four boards, a steal and an assist. Caleb Featherston chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds, while Brandon Vanderhegghen scored nine points, Niko Read scored seven points, Kyle Fillman scored six and Dennis Williams finished with five points. “Our scoring was what it has been ... we got points from a lot of guys,” said Kessler. “These guys’ mindset is that they’re going to do whatever they need to do. We play “we ball” as we call it.” While Taylor was held 27 points below its scoring average and fell to 4-3 on the season, the Lancers improved to 9-1. Kessler and his players were happy to open conference play with a win. Last year they opened with a loss to Taylor and went on to lose their first five Crossroads League contests. “You can’t afford to get behind in this league,” said Kessler. “They remember what happened last year. Featherston brought it up. They remember. Their mindset is different this year. We go into every game with the mindset of trying to be 1-0.” The Lancers are in action again Tuesday when they travel to Marion to play top-ranked and defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan. Wesleyan opened league play with a 78-73 win at No. 10 Bethel Tuesday night. Goshen, Huntington and St. Francis also won league games Tuesday.
GRACE COLLEGE 72, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY 52 TU 18 34 – 52 GC 31 41 – 72 Taylor – Darayl Jordan 4-4 1-1 9, Keaton Hendricks 2-9 2-2 6, Tim Fleming 2-4 3-6 7, Jesse Coffey 2-8 2-3 8, Kyle Stidom 0-3 3-4 3, Jordan Richardson 0-3 0-0 0, Shakir Dunning 1-8 2-2 4, Tyler Waite 0-2 0-0 0, Eric Cellier 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Forbes 0-0 2-2 2, Graham Ortmann 1-1 0-0 3, Braden Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Ian Dutcher 1-4 4-4 6. Totals 15-49 19-25 52. Grace – Caleb Featherston 5-12 1-1 11, Kyle Fillman 3-6 0-0 6, Adrian Makolli 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Irwin 6-9 2-2 15, Niko Read 3-5 0-0 7, Keaton Irwin 0-0 0-0 0, John Swanson 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Halstead 0-2 0-0 0, Eric Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Tre Olive 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Perrin 0-1 0-1 0, Brandon Vanderhegghen 3-4 2-2 9, Dennis Williams 2-6 1-2 5, Chad Hoffer 6-9 1-2 15, Sam Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Erik Bowen 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-58 9-12 72. Three-pointers – Taylor 3 (Coffey 2, Ortmann), Grace 5 (Hoffer 2, L. Irwin, Read, Vanderhegghen); Rebounds – Taylor 24 (Dutcher 4), Grace 38 (Featherston 6); Turnovers – Taylor 11, Grace 12; Fouls – Taylor 17, Grace 24; Fouled out – none; Records: Taylor 4-3 (0-1 CL), Grace 9-1 (1-0 CL)
