NC Indiana News

Lancers stumble in ranked matchup

Grace's men's basketball team came up short in a high-profile Crossroads League contest on Saturday.

The No. 4 Lancers fell 72-67 against No. 14 Indiana Wesleyan, letting a 12-point lead in the first half slip away.

Grace struggled with its shot in the second half, and the Wildcats took advantage to outscore Grace by nine after halftime.

The first half was largely a defensive clash. Grace's defense locked down the Wildcats for much of the first half, leading for over 16 minutes of play.

Grace went to the paint early and often against IWU, using drives from Jakob Gibbs and Frankie Davidson to carve out a lead.

Davidson scored on back-to-back plays; his last bucket was a breakaway dunk after a block by Elijah Malone, putting Grace on top 23-11 with less than seven minutes left in the first half. 

The Wildcats were forced to call timeout to slow Grace's momentum, and the Wildcats finally sparked to life.

IWU used a ferocious 18-6 run to take the lead at 29-27. Grace had four turnovers during that stretch to allow the Wildcats back into contention.

To make matters worse, Grace also got into foul trouble late in the half with three players picking up a pair of fouls.

But the Lancers showed resolve. Jake Wadding converted a tough and-1 to spark the Lancers, and Carter Stoltzfus and Brett Sickafoose followed that up with consecutive 3-pointers.

Grace burst into halftime with a 33-29 lead. The Lancers shot 58 percent from the floor but turned the ball over 12 times. IWU shot 33 percent but had just four turnovers. Davidson led all players with 13 points, and Malone had three assists and two blocks before getting into foul trouble.

The Lancers began the second half well. Malone threw down a thunderous, two-handed putback slam in the opening minute, and a free throw from Davidson pushed the Lancers' cushion to nine at 40-31.

Grace still led by nine with 15:53 remaining in the game after two foul shots from Cade Gibbs, but the Wildcats were about to turn the tide.

IWU held Grace to four points over the next 7:15; the Lancers committed three more turnovers to allow the Wildcats to sneak ahead.

Grace went cold over the next three minutes again, mustering just a jump shot from Jakob Gibbs. 

The Wildcats, on the other hand, scored on five straight possessions; Grace's two-point lead with 6:46 remaining turned into an eight-point deficit with 4:03 on the clock.

The Lancers clawed back, however. Jake Wadding jumpstarted Grace with a steal and slam, and he later added three free throws to chop IWU's lead to three.

Grace continued to battle until the end. Jakob Gibbs buried a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining to bring the Lancers within three at 68-65. IWU scored on the ensuing possession, but Cade Gibbs responded with a layup of his own.

IWU missed the front end of a free throw with 20 seconds to play. Grace created a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but the shot was off the mark. The Wildcats then iced the game at the free throw line.

Jakob Gibbs led Grace with 22 points, scoring 16 after halftime. Davidson had 12 of his 15 points in the first half, adding seven rebounds and two assists.

Cade Gibbs flirted with a double-double, tallying 8 points, 8 boards and 2 assists, and Wadding tallied 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.

Malone had 5 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks, and Stoltzfus had 3 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Grace finished the game shooting 49 percent but made 40 percent of its shots after halftime. Grace also shot just 29 percent on 3-pointers and 63 percent from the free throw line.

For the game, Grace outrebounded IWU by six (37 to 31), but the Lancers also had six more turnovers (18 to 12).

The Lancers are on the road twice next week. Grace will travel to Bethel on Wednesday and Huntington on Saturday.

Original source can be found here.