Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - For the Grace College men's basketball team, the game with the St. Francis Cougars ended about 11 minutes late. The Cougars, ranked No. 3 in the country, entered the game in first place in the Mid-Central Conference and remained there after an 81-67 victory Tuesday night.
With 11 minutes to play, Ryan Bricker capped off a 9-0 run for the Lancers with a three-pointer to cut St. Francis' lead to one point at 58-57. For the next 10-1/2 minutes, the Lancer offense disappeared as St. Francis went on a 23-10 run to close the game.
During that span, the Lancers made just 1 of 8 field goals and 4 of 16 free throws. To top it off, Grace committed eight turnovers in 10 minutes. That stretch destroyed an otherwise strong game from the Lancers.
Grace led St. Francis for much of the first half despite trailing by one point at the break. The Lancers held a seven-point advantage numerous times in the first half, but the Cougars went on a 13-6 spurt to take a 43-42 halftime lead.
The Lancers shot 52 percent in the first half and forced 12 turnovers while committing eight.
In the second half, St. Francis built the lead to 10 points at 58-48 before Grace scored nine consecutive points to close to within one.
That's when the Cougars took over.
For the game, Shannon Brown came off the bench to score 20 points and grab eight rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. He made 9 of 13 field goals. Ryan Bricker was the only other double-figure scorer, getting 15 points and six rebounds. Matt Moore had a solid all-around game for the Lancers with five points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals.
Grace (9-16, 0-7 MCC) will begin the second half of the conference season Saturday. The Lancers will play at No. 12 Bethel at 3 p.m. St. Francis is now 21-4 and 7-0 in the MCC.
ST. FRANCIS 81, GRACE 67
St. Francis 43 38 - 81
Grace 42 25 - 67
St. Francis - Ryan Norfleet 6-10 3-4 15, Ben Meyer 1-6 2-2 5, Scott Bolinger 3-4 4-4 10, Jeremy Creigh 2-5 0-0 5, Steve Smith 7-13 9-10 23, Jontae James 0-1 2-4 2, Marcus Louden 2-3 2-2 8, Mitch Smith 4-5 0-2 8, Jeremy Hibbeln 2-2 0-0 5. Totals -Ê27-49 22-28 81.
Grace - Matt Moore 2-7 1-4 5, Ryan Bricker 4-12 5-6 15, Lawrence Burnett 3-5 2-5 8, Ben Tonagel0-7 2-2 2, Dan Scharlach 2-7 0-0 4, Brian O'Dell 1-1 0-0 3, Shannon Brown 9-13 2-7 20, Teryck Taylor 1-2 0-2 2, Jeremy Swanson 4-4 0-0 8. Totals - 26-58 12-26 67
Three-pointers - St. Francis 5-12 (Louden 2-3, Hibbeln 1-1, Creigh 1-3, Meyer 1-4, James 0-1), Grace 3-12 (Bricker 2-4, O'Dell 1-1, Moore 0-2, Tonagel 0-5). Rebounds - St. Francis 32 (Steve Smith 6), Grace 34 (Brown 8). Personal fouls - St. Francis 19, Grace 22. Fouled out -ÊBrown. Turnovers -ÊSt. Francis 25, Grace 24.
