Cold Shooting Chills Lancers In Loss
LIVONIA, Mich. – The Grace College men’s basketball team, playing its second straight NAIA Top 25 opponent Saturday, struggled to find its offensive rhythm in a 68-60 defeat to No. 22 Rochester.
The ninth-ranked Lancers (8-3), who had taken down No. 25 Madonna the night before, shot just 29.5 percent from the floor against the Warriors in the loss.
Grace jumped ahead 12-5 early in the game on the strength of two early 3-pointers from Elliot Smith.
Rochester climbed back into the contest, however, and claimed a 23-16 lead they would hold for the rest of the half.
Overall, the Warriors (13-3) made nearly half of their field goals in the first half, connecting on 13-of-27 from the floor. The Lancers, on the other hand, struggled to just 32 percent shooting.
In the second half, Grace did its best to cut into Rochester’s lead, but the Warriors had an answer for each of Grace’s runs.
Midway into the half, the Warriors buried back-to-back 3-pointers en route to their largest lead of the game at 52-38.
Grace countered with 12 straight points, including five from Greg Miller, to cut the deficit to two.
The Lancers did their best to keep their hopes alive by dominating the offensive glass with 17 offensive rebounds. But their second-chance efforts weren’t enough to close the gap.
Grace, who shot 29.5 percent from the floor, made only five of their 23 attempts from beyond the arc.
Miller posted his second double-double in as many days with 12 points and 16 rebounds, and Bruce Grimm Jr. added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Dennis Williams contributed nine points in 13 minutes off the bench, and Kyle Fillman made 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
The Lancers will continue on the road with an away game at Fisher College (Mass.) on Monday.