Grace’s magical season ends in NAIA quarterfinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A memorable season for Grace’s men’s basketball team reached its conclusion on Saturday in the NAIA national quarterfinals.
The No. 2 seeded Lancers lost a marquee battle to No. 1 Arizona Christian 73-71.
Grace ends the season as three-time Crossroads League regular season champions and four-time CL Tournament champs.
The Lancers also qualified for the NAIA National Championships for the fourth straight year — a first-time accomplishment for Grace’s storied program. Grace has reached the Elite Eight round or deeper for three consecutive seasons under head coach Scott Moore.
Ian Raasch scored a game-high 24 points. Grace had a better shooting percentage than ACU (43 percent vs 37) and had five fewer turnovers.
But the Firestorm had 17 offensive rebounds, outrebounded Grace by eight and made six more free throws.
Grace’s offense was sluggish to start the game, which was a sign of things to come in the half. The Lancers needed over two minutes to get on the scoreboard before Brycen Graber scored on back-to-back possessions.
ACU built an 11-6 lead after five minutes before Grace came alive.
The Lancers found points in transition, turning defensive stops into quick scores. Raasch finished a fastbreak layup, which was followed by a quick triple from Justin DeGraaf and a banked floater from Hunter Walston.
Grace surged in front 17-13 as the game reached the midway mark of the first half.
But ACU got back on track thanks to its outside shooting. The Firestorm canned a trio of 3-pointers in a three-minute span to regain a four-point edge.
Raasch and Ian Scott carried Grace down the stretch, combining to score the final 10 points of the half. But ACU scored just before the buzzer and carried a 32-27 lead into halftime.
Grace struggled mightily with its shot in the half. The Lancers collectively made 38 percent of their attempts from the floor.
Defensively, Grace held ACU to 41 percent shooting, but the Firestorm grabbed seven offensive rebounds and scored 16 points in the paint.
Ian Raasch and Ian Scott scored seven points apiece to lead Grace.
Grace began the second half with confidence. The Lancers scored five points in a row and came to life on offense.
Raasch and Scott combined to score nine points over the first 2:38 of the second half; Grace zoomed in front 36-34.
The teams exchanged small leads over the next few minutes. Grace found timely 3-pointers each time ACU threatened to build a cushion. Scott, DeGraaf and Carter Stoltzfus canned triples over a four-minute span to keep the game level.
With 8:48 remaining, DeGraaf muscled his way to a tough and-1, helping Grace to a 52-50 lead.
The Lancers still led 54-52 with 6:49 to go, and Grace made a few defensive stops in a row. But Grace was unable to extend its lead, and ACU took advantage to sneak in front. The Firestorm canned two clutch triples and stunned Grace with a 61-56 lead with 3:36 on the clock.
Grace was forced to chase ACU over the final minutes. The Lancers battled until the final whistle as demonstrated on the court.
Grace scored layup after layup while chasing ACU, but the Firestorm made their free throws to keep distance. ACU went 10 for 10 from the foul line over the final 46 seconds of the game.
Carter Stoltzfus sank a halfcourt triple as the final second ran off the clock, but it was little consolation as Grace was handed the two-point loss.
Raasch tallied 24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal, and Scott had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal.
DeGraaf scored 12 points off the bench, Stoltzfus scored six points with two 3s, Walston had five points, and Graber and Gage Sefton each scored four.
The game wraps up the sterling career of Grace’s senior class of Scott, Stoltzfus, Graber, DeGraaf, Brett Sickafoose, Alex Darnell and Marcus Davidson. The seniors won 121 games, marking the most wins by a class in Lancer history.