Grace Falls Flat At Goshen
GOSHEN – A second-half collapse for Grace’s men’s basketball team resulted in an 88-81 defeat at Goshen on Wednesday.
The Lancers (18-9, 8-7 Crossroads League) gave up 50 points in the second half and were outscored by 14.
The loss puts Grace and the Maple Leafs (16-11, 8-7 CL) in a tie for fourth place in the CL standings with three regular-season games remaining.
The first half belonged to Grace. The Lancers led for nearly the entire period, going ahead by as many as 11 in the final minutes.
Grace shot 46 percent from the floor, 40 percent from the 3-point line and 9-of-10 from the foul line in a sharpshooting effort. Grace also held a plus-8 advantage in rebounds, going into halftime with a 45-38 edge.
Grace continued its strong play to start the second half, building up a 55-44 lead after Erik Bowen’s putback basket with 15:44 to play. But Goshen ramped up its attack, ripping off an 18-2 run to surge ahead.
The Lancers’ offense was nonexistent during Goshen’s run, mustering just two points in almost eight minutes of action.
The Maple Leafs used their momentum to pull ahead by 11 with two minutes on the clock.
Grace did its best to battle back, trimming Goshen’s lead down on several occasions. Twice in the final 2:00, Tre Olive converted an and-1 to keep Grace’s hopes alive. His second and-1 cut the deficit down to 83-79 with 35 seconds to play.
But Goshen sank 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch to secure the win.
The Lancers struggled with their outside touch in the comeback attempt, misfiring on 10 of their 11 3-point attempts in the second half.
Grace struggled to slow down the Maple Leafs’ attack in the second half. Goshen made a shocking 71 percent of its shots (17-of-24) over the final 20 minutes.
For the game, the Maple Leafs sank 60 percent of their 3’s and 58 percent of all field goals. Grace connected on 48 percent of its shots but could only make 24 percent from beyond the arc.
Bowen led Grace in scoring with 19 points and seven boards, making 8-of-11 from the floor. Brandon Vanderhegghen scored all 15 of his points in the first half.
Olive produced 11 of his 14 points after halftime. Kyle Fillman and Caleb Featherston both ended with 10 points while Fillman chipped in 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Logan Irwin chipped in six points and six assists.
The Lancers end the week with a critical contest against rival No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan. Grace, who defeated then-No. 1 IWU on Jan. 9, will host the Wildcats in a rematch on Saturday at 3 p.m.