WINONA LAKE - Grace College senior David Swanson was named the Most Valuable Player of this weekend's Officer Terry Polston Hoops For Hopes Tournament.
And because his teammates came up big too, the Lancers celebrated a team championship after they beat Robert Morris University 73-71 Saturday at the Orthopaedic Capital Center."Huge contributions," said Grace College coach Jim Kessler, whose team beat NAIA Divison II No. 11 Cornerstone 74-73 Friday to give the veteran coach his 600th career win. "We got contributions from a lot of people today."
Swanson led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow frontliner Duke Johnson, a sophomore, chipped in with 12 points and seven boards.
Freshmen Elliot Smith and Tannan Peters scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, while senior point guard Kyle Plumlee finished with nine points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.
"Kyle is the heart and soul of what we do," said Kessler. "He makes things happen. We had a lot of people make things happen today. This team is coming of age."
Freshmen Lee Ross scored six points, as he came off the bench and made a pair of three-pointers in the second half, both of which came at critical points in the game.
The win improved the Lancers to 9-3 on the season.
Grace has won five games in a row and seven of its last eight contests.
"This was a collective effort," said Kessler. "I never felt like we were really out of it. We got close, and then we finally got over the hump. We've won some close games, and that's a tribute to the character of these young men, they don't give up."
Swanson came through with another double-double in the win, but the gutty play of guys like Plumlee, Peters and Lee - guys not known for scoring a lot of points - that really gave the Lancers a boost.
Ross' first three-pointer beat the shot clock and cut Robert Morris' lead to two, 58-56, with 10:07 remaining in the game.
His second trey pulled the Lancers within one, 64-63, with 5:35 to play.
"They left Lee Ross open, and he knocked down some big shots," said Kessler. "When I saw him play in high school for South Bend Riley, he made some big shots, and he certainly did that for us today."
Grace trailed Robert Morris 43-36 at halftime and then outscored the Eagles 37-28 in the second half.
With the Lancers trailing 67-66 with 2:42 to play, Swanson converted a three-point play to give Grace the lead for good.
A minute later, Smith buried a three-pointer to push the Lancers' advantage to five.
The Eagles cut the lead to two on a three-pointer with a minute left in regulation, and then to one, 72-71, when senior Jacolby Hardiman made one of two free throws with 15 seconds to play.
Peters collected the rebound on the missed free throw by Hardiman and made the first of a two-shot opportunity on the other end for Grace.
Junior Lester Ferguson pulled down the rebound on Peters' missed free throw, and the Eagles had a chance to tie the game, but junior Ricardo Laing's shot in the paint was off target as time ran out.
The loss dropped Robert Morris to 7-7 on the season.
Senior Robert Jones led the Eagles with 23 points, while Laing scored 13 points and Hardiman finished with 11 points.
The Lancers will play in the McKinley Grand-Malone Tournament this weekend, and then the Rocky Mountain College Tournament on Dec. 28-29.
Grace's next home game is scheduled for Jan. 9 against conference rival Spring Arbor.
GRACE 73, ROBERT MORRIS 71
RM 43 28 - 71
G 36 37 - 73
RMU - Ricardo Laing 5-13 0-0 13, Billy Rush 4-12 0-0 8, Robert Jones 9-12 3-4 23, Jacolby Hardiman 4-7 3-7 11, Roy Beard 3-8 1-3 7, Ian Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Yamani Ball 2-6 0-1 5, Lester Ferguson 1-3 2-2 6. Totals 28-61 9-17 71.
Grace - Dayton Merrell 1-3 0-0 2, David Swanson 9-17 4-5 22, Duke Johnson 4-9 4-6 12, Elliot Smith 4-10 0-0 12, Kyle Plumlee 3-9 3-4 9, Lee Ross 2-2 0-0 6, Daniel Goins 0-1 0-0 0, Benjamin Euler 0-1 0-0 0, Tannan Peters 3-6 2-5 10, Jordan Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 13-20 73.
