WINONA LAKE - As Grace College men's basketball coach Jim Kessler put it, rebounding can disguise a multitude of sins. In a battle of NAIA Division II top 25 teams Saturday afternoon at the Orthopaedic Capital Center, the seventh-ranked Lancers outrebounded the No. 19 Taylor Trojans 35-24. None of those rebounds were bigger than the one 6-foot-6 sophomore Greg Miller grabbed and put in for the winning bucket with five seconds remaining, as the Lancers beat Taylor 55-54 to stay alone atop the Mid-Central College Conference standings. "There's a lot of conference games to be played still, but this is a big win for us," said Kessler, whose team is off to its best start in 20 years. "Greg got a big rebound and put it back in. It was a huge play." So was freshman Karl Columbus' nothing-but-net half-court shot that beat the halftime buzzer and gave the host Lancers a 32-31 lead after 20 minutes of play in a game that neither team led by more than six points. "Some years you live the charmed life," said Kessler. "You make shots like that, and you win games like this. Things have gone our way this season." With the win, Grace improved to 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the MCC. The Lancers are off to their best start since the 1992 national-championship season when they were 16-2 at one point and went on to finish with a 32-5 record. Taylor fell to 13-5 overall and 2-4 in the MCC. Sixth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, Huntington and St. Francis are 4-2 in conference play, while No. 12 Goshen, Bethel and Spring Arbor are 3-3 and Mt. Vernon Nazarene is 0-6. The new NAIA Division II national rankings will be released today. Saturday's game featured eight ties and 15 lead changes. Taylor junior Nate Kasper broke the game's final tie when his shot in the paint gave the Trojans a 54-52 lead with 3:01 remaining. Grace junior Bruce Grimm Jr. cut the deficit to one with a free throw with 20 seconds to play. A jump ball with eight seconds remaining gave the ball to the Lancers. Grimm's potential game-winning shot attempt was off the mark, but ended up in the hands of Miller, who brought the OCC crowd to its feet with his only points of the game. Taylor inbounded the ball with 4.7 seconds remaining, and had a chance to win the game, but junior Casey Coon's three-pointer missed. "We've won our last two home games in the final seconds, and our game at Goshen (Thursday) was close until we pulled away in the second half," said Kessler. "I told the guys we need to develop a grit. These guys believe in each other." In their last home game prior to Saturday, the Lancers beat conference foe Spring Arbor 68-67 when Grimm converted a pair of free throws with five seconds left. Grimm scored a game-high 19 points against Taylor, and also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists in 35 minutes of action, while senior Duke Johnson chipped in with 13 points and seven rebounds. Columbus scored seven points for the Lancers, while senior Jacob Peattie and junior Tannan Peters finished with five points each. Coons led Taylor with 13 points, while senior Jake Burkholder and junior Tommy Peller scored 10 points each and sophomore Ben Raichel chipped in with nine points. Playing its fourth game in a week, Grace will be in action Tuesday at rival Bethel for men's and women's doubleheader. The Lady Lancers tip things off at 5:30 p.m.
GRACE 55, TAYLOR 54 T 31 23 – 53 G 32 23 – 54 Taylor – Nate Kasper 3-6 0-0 6, Jake Burkholder 3-5 4-7 10, Kyle Hanaway 1-5 1-2 4, Case Coons 5-16 2-5 13, Tommy Peller 5-9 0-0 10, Ben Raichel 3-4 0-0 9, Josh Riikonen 1-3 0-2 2, Ian Dutcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 7-16 54. Grace – Dayton Merrell 0-2 0-0 0, Greg Miller 1-6 0-0 2, Duke Johnson 4-7 4-4 13, Jacob Peattie 2-5 0-0 5, Bruce Grimm Jr. 6-20 4-6 19, Lee Ross 0-0 2-2 2, Benjamin Euler 0-0 0-0 0, Tannan Peters 2-3 0-0 5, Karl Columbus 3-5 0-0 7, Dennis Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-50 10-12 55. Three-pointers – Taylor 5 (Raichel 3, Hanaway, Coons), Grace 7 (Grimm 3, Johnson, Peattie, Peters, Columbus); Rebounds – Taylor 24 (Coons 6, Riikonen 6), Grace 35 (Johnson 7, Grimm 7); Turnovers – Taylor 13, Grace 15; Fouls – Taylor 15, Grace 19; Fouled out – none; Records: Taylor 13-5 (2-4 MCC), Grace 15-2 (5-1 MCC)
