Grace’s Jake Wadding throws one down against Huntington Saturday afternoon in the Lancers’ regular season finale. Photo provided

Grace Men’s Basketball 93, Huntington 86

Grace’s men’s basketball team earned its fourth straight victory to end the regular season, beating Huntington 93-86 on Saturday.

The win proved critical as Grace wrapped up the No. 5 seed in the league standings. Grace will travel to St. Francis on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Crossroads League Tournament.

The Lancers (17-10, 8-8 CL) were particularly efficient on offense during the second half. Grace shot 63 percent from the field after halftime, scoring 56 points to pull away from the Foresters (16-10, 7-9 CL).

Frankie Davidson impressed in the win, producing 23 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, and Haden Deaton had 19 points, 4 assists and 4 boards on his Senior Day. Deaton, Cody Holmes and Matt Jennings were honored before the game for Senior Day.

Elijah Malone was a dominant presence for Grace to start the game. The freshman began the game with a thunderous one-handed slam and had another jam a few minutes later. Malone tallied six points in the first five minutes.

In comparison, Huntington found its offense from beyond the arc. The Foresters buried four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game, opening up a 24-18 lead.

Grace countered with a 10-2 run, which included four points from Malone. The score remained close until Huntington, but a late triple from Huntington gave the guests a 39-37 edge at halftime.

Malone’s 12 points paced the team, and Deaton added 10. Grace and Huntington both shot 44 percent from the field, but the Lancers made just 5 of 10 from the foul line in the half.

The Foresters held to their lead for the first six minutes of the second half, building their cushion up to seven in the early minutes.

Grace changed the complexion of the game, however, with a 14-2 charge. Jennings tied the score with an and-1, and a pair of quick triples by Deaton put the Lancers ahead 63-55 with 12 minutes remaining.

Two minutes later, another 3-pointer from Deaton gave Grace an 11-point advantage, its largest of the contest.

With 2:09 on the clock, Eddie Gill IV sank two foul shots to put Grace on top 87-76.

Huntington was not prepared to lose without a fight. The Foresters patiently ate into Grace’s lead, eventually trailing by just three at 89-86 with 21 seconds remaining. But Davidson sealed the win, swishing four free throws over the final seconds for the final seven-point margin of victory.

Grace made 53 percent of its field goals compared to 49 percent for Huntington. Grace had a dominant advantage in rebounds, grabbing 19 more boards than the Foresters.

Jake Wadding finished with 16 points, 5 assists, 4 boards and 2 steals, and Malone added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Jakob Gibbs amassed 12 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, Gill chipped in 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Jennings added 3 points, 4 assists and 4 boards.

Huntington Women’s Basketball 62, Grace 51

Grace College’s women’s basketball team fell to the Huntington Foresters 62-51 on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.

The Lady Lancers (12-15, 2-14 Crossroads League) will now turn their focus to the Crossroads League Tournament.

Grace will travel to face the top seeded and NAIA No. 4-ranked Marian on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Lady Lancers came out of the gate ice cold and failed to score on their first 11 possessions of the game. The drought allowed Huntington (13-8, 9-7 CL) to build a 16-0 lead.

Kyannah Stull scored the first basket of the game for Grace with just 2:29 remaining in the opening quarter, and the Lady Lancers trailed 20-7 at the end of one.

The Foresters again put the pressure on Grace early in the second quarter; by the midway mark, HU had built a 19-point lead at 33-14.

The Lady Lancers seemed to gain some momentum late in the second. Bolstered by seven points from Maddie Ryman, Grace ended the half on an 11-2 run. Huntington still led 35-25 at halftime.

Ryman led all Grace players with nine points in the opening half, and Kenzie McMahon grabbed five rebounds.

Both teams shot percentages in the mid-40s from the floor, but Huntington earned its advantage with effort on the glass. The Lady Lancers were outrebounded 18-11 and surrendered 10 offensive boards.

Grace’s run from the end of the first half carried over early into the second. Patton assisted on an and-1 for Stull, helping cut the Lady Lancers’ deficit to 35-31.

Kaylie Warble and Stull each converted on 3-point plays to send the game into the final frame with Grace within striking distance at 48-43.

After Huntington increased the lead to start the fourth, a pair of free throws from Kamryn Hostetler and Ryman cut the deficit to five. It was as close as Grace would get.

The Foresters closed the contest on a 12-6 run and claimed victory 62-51.

As a team Grace shot 42 percent from the floor but just 12 percent (2 of 16) from beyond the arc. Grace failed to connect from deep in the second half (0 for 10).

Stull and Ryman paced the Lady Lancers with 17 and 15 points respectively.

Warble had a well-balanced game with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. McMahon also chipped in with six points and eight rebounds.

“We had a slow start but got back into the game. Give our girls a lot of credit for working hard to be in striking distance late in the game. We fought and had chances. At the end of the day, they made more shots and made a few plays late. But now we turn our focus into postseason play, and we are looking forward to it,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis.

Grace Men’s Tennis 5, Indiana Tech 2

Grace’s men’s tennis team defended its NAIA No. 19 national ranking, beating No. 23 Indiana Tech 5-2 in a high-profile match.

The Lancers (14-4) earned the doubles’ point by a narrow margin. Pavle Popovic and Facundo Paredes battled to a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles, and Mauricio Corty and Ramiro Candia followed suit with a 6-4 win at No. 3.

Nearly every singles’ court was fiercely contested with Grace claiming four of the six singles’ points over the Warriors (2-1).

Max Rozas and Paredes battled to three-set wins. Rozas won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, and Paredes pulled out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 3.

Fabricio Galvan won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in a brawl at No. 4 singles, and Popovic claimed a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win at No. 6.

Next week the Lancers will take on Lawrence Tech on Wednesday at Eastlake Tennis Club.

Track Concludes Crossroads Indoors

Grace’s track and field team wrapped up a memorable weekend on Saturday at the 2021 Crossroads League Indoor Championships.

The Lancers pieced together impressive results in the meet, including 9 school records, 4 individual league champions, 1 meet record and numerous top-20 NAIA national performances.

Overall, the men ended in fourth place with a team-record 95 points. The women also set a new team-high in points, finishing fifth with 81 points. The men’s side of the meet was held at Indiana Wesleyan with the women at Taylor.

The list of impressive performances on day two of the meet included John Green setting a Crossroads League meet record in the 200-meter run, winning in 22.08 seconds. He added a second-place finish in the 60 meters in 6.99.

Bryan Hernandez-Rios came back from a school-record in the 5,000 on Friday to post another record in the 3,000, placing third in 8:38.37. Kyle Smith finished as runner-up in the 600 with a school-record mark of 1:22.13.

On the women’s side, the 4×400 relay captured the league title. The foursome of Nordia Campbell, Ashley Stoltzfus, Gracious O’Connor and Julia Malson ran 3:59.80.

Mallory Hiatt ran a school record in the 5,000 (18:11.37) to place second, adding to her 3,000 record set a day earlier. The distance medley relay team of Anna Hulstedt, Michaela Buriff, Tara Friesen and Heather Plastow finished sixth and established a new school record of 13:01.76.

Rounding out the school-record blitz was Olivia Lugibihl, who placed second in the pentathlon with a total of 2,379 points.

Other placers for the men were: Isaac Findley, 7th in the 60 (7.11) and 4th in the 200 (22.55); Tanner Sallee, 5th in the 600 (1:23.81); Luke Smith, 7th in the 800 (1:58.75); Maurice Macklin, 8th in the 800 (1:58.82); Isaac Beatty, 4th in the 1000 (2:33.61); Dimitri Margaritidis, 6th in the mile (4:23.29); Logan Rufenacht, 7th in the mile (4:24.99); Connor Kitson, 6th in the heptathlon (3,378 points) and 8th in the 60 hurdles.

Also placing for the women was the 4×800 relay team of Kaitlyn Mack, Elizabeth Moore, Makenzie Adams and Heather Plastow, 6th (9:53.77).

The Lancers currently have four relays and several individuals who rank in the top 20 of the NAIA in their events. This year’s NAIA national meet is limiting entries to the top 16 in each event, and Grace expects to have several on that list when entries are finalized this coming week. The NAIA Indoor National Championships will be held in Yankton, S.D. on March 3-6.

“To say we performed well would be an understatement. In the craziness of a COVID season, with the men and women split up at different venues and an unusual meet schedule, our athletes stepped up in a big way,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “We are proud of how they handled the situation and how they performed.”