High-octane Lancers race past Jaguars
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s men’s basketball team wrapped up a perfect weekend with a 92-83 victory over Governors State on Saturday.
Matt Jennings enjoyed a breakout game with 23 points to lead all players, and Erik Bowen, who was named the Tournament MVP, scored 20 points with four rebounds.
The first half was an offensive barrage with the teams combining for 101 points. GSU jumped ahead early 10-3 thanks to two early 3-pointers.
Grace battled back to tie the game at 14-14, and the score remained close for the rest of the half.
Late in the half, Grace fell behind 45-40 before rallying with a late charge. Matt Jennings scored in the paint, then forced a turnover to free up Haden Deaton for an emphatic fastbreak dunk.
Erik Bowen followed that up with five unanswered points, and Jaret Sons buried a 3-pointer to cap off a furious 12-0 run.
The Lancers carried that momentum into a 53-48 lead at halftime. Bowen led all players with 16 points in the half. Both teams shot 51 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
The Jaguars gave Grace a scare when they claimed a 71-66 lead with 10:22 remaining. But Jennings and Martin Schiele spun the game around for good.
Grace erupted for a game-changing 14-2 run, thanks to two 3-pointers from Schiele and six more points from Jennings. Jennings’s last basket put Grace ahead 80-73 with 6:44 on the clock.
Jennings helped ice the game from the foul line, making eight free throws over the final four minutes as Grace won by nine.
Sons, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, produced eight points with eight rebounds, and Haden Deaton tallied 9 points, 7 boards and 3 assists.
Logan Godfrey had eight points and four rebounds, Schiele scored eight points in 13 minutes, and Braxton Linville passed out 10 assists.
As a team, Grace outrebounded the Jaguars by 12. The Lancers shot 49 percent from the floor and a sizzling 93 percent (27-of-29) from the free throw stripe.
The Lancers remain at home Monday, hosting Ohio Christian at 7 p.m.