WINONA LAKE – A day after two of their Crossroads League rivals battled for an NAIA national championship in Missouri, the Grace College Lancers began their quest for an NCCAA title at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. Hosting the 16-team tournament, which features eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams, the fourth-seeded Lancers looked like a team playing on its home floor as they never trailed in an 85-66 win over No. 5 seed Alice Lloyd College Wednesday night. Grace led the Eagles 44-27 at halftime and was able to sustain the double-digit advantage through the second 20 minutes of action, advancing to tonight’s 8:45 p.m. semifinal game against No. 1 seed Emmanuel College, a 76-47 winner over No. 8 seed Central Christian. “I challenged them, you know, there’s a lot of teams in this tournament that are more athletic ... we might be the least athletic,” said Grace College coach Jim Kessler. “But basketball players win games, they do the little things, and I challenged them tonight to be basketball players. “You pass, you cut, you screen, you do things for each other and you have to help on defense, and I thought Logan (Irwin) did a good job attacking and getting us moving. When you play like a basketball player that’s what happens.” Irwin, Grace’s senior point guard, finished the game with 12 points and six assists, and didn’t have a turnover in the 27 minutes that he played. Senior guard Brandon Vanderhegghen led all scorers with 25 points, and also added six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals to his stat line. Sophomore Erik Bowen had 14 points and six boards in the win, while junior Tre Olive chipped in with 10 points off the bench. “Recently, we haven’t been disciplined enough for me,” said Kessler, whose team had lost three in a row and five of its last six. “I thought tonight we tried to be more disciplined. It’s hard to run really hard and be patient. We struggled with that a little bit, but against the good teams that’s what you gotta do. You gotta take the quick shots when they give them to you, and you gotta be disciplined, set screens and move the ball, and get the shots you can make.” The Lancers, now 20-13 on the season, were 31 of 67 from the field overall, 7 of 17 from the arc, and 16 of 21 at the free throw line. A total of 13 players saw the floor for the Lancers, with 10 of them scoring, including senior Caleb Featherston and freshman Josh Ruggles. Featherston, who had missed a number of games because of a broken hand, started and scored four points and pulled down three boards. Ruggles, who had been out with a leg injury, made a pair of free throws in 10 minutes off the bench. The Eagles, who fell to 18-14 on the season, were 25 of 61 overall, 6 of 20 from the arc, and 10 of 12 at the charity stripe. Mason Pack led Alice Lloyd with 19 points, while Tyler Rogers and Dondre Warren chipped in with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Each team in the tournament is guaranteed to play three games. The Eagles will now play in the consolation bracket and will face Central Christian today at 1:45 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S SCORES MEN No. 6 Trinity Int’l 89, No. 3 Ohio Christian 79 No. 2 Southwestern Chr. 74, No. 7 Bluefield 66 No. 4 Grace College 85, No. 5 Alice Lloyd 66 No. 1 Emmanuel 76, No. 8 Central Christian 47 WOMEN No. 6 Northwestern 61, No. 3 Emmanuel 57 No. 2 Roberts Wesleyan 77, No. 7 Bethesda 68 No. 4 Oklahoma Baptist 58, No. 5 Point 50 No. 1 Colorado Christian 75, Bluefield 70 OT
