Lancers MBB slip at home to Taylor
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s men’s basketball team was unable to recover from a sluggish start on Saturday, losing 81-74 to Taylor.
Grace had four players score in double figures, but the Lancers shot just 41 percent as a team compared to 52 percent for the Trojans (11-11, 5-5 Crossroads League).
Charlie Warner led the Lancers (11-11, 1-9 CL) by scoring 18 points. Logan Godfrey added 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
The chilly temperatures outside carried over to Grace’s shooting to start Saturday’s game. The Lancers scored just two points for the first five minutes of play, and Taylor jumped ahead 13-2.
Grace managed to battle back. Warner scored six points, and Deaton added four more to trim the deficit to 21-16.
But the Trojans sped away to close the half. Taylor opened up a 39-28 lead by halftime. Taylor shot 55 percent in the first half.
The Lancers struggled to shoot 36 percent in the first half and missed all seven of their 3-pointers. Grace also tallied just two assists.
Taylor’s momentum carried over to the start of the second half. The Trojans opened up an 18-point lead with 17 minutes to play, marking the largest lead of the contest.
But Grace maintained its focus and patiently chipped away at Taylor’s lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Eddie Gill IV and Deaton helped spark Grace’s surge.
Gill and Martin Schiele then used defense to create offense a few minutes later. Schiele stole the ball off Taylor’s point guard and converted a layup while being fouled.
On the next play, Gill mimicked Schiele. He stole a pass and threw down a fastbreak dunk.
On Grace’s next play, Schiele buried a triple from the top of the key which sliced Taylor’s lead down to 65-60 with 6:32 on the clock.
Three minutes later, Schiele drilled another 3-pointer to make the score 71-67 with 3:29 remaining.
With a minute left, Grace still trailed by four. The Lancers got the defensive stop they wanted, but Taylor scrapped its way to an offensive rebound.
Grace was forced to foul to extend the game. The Trojans could not miss from the foul line, however, going 8-for-8 on free throws in the last minute to secure the road win.
For the game, Grace outrebounded Taylor by five thanks to 13 offensive rebounds. But Taylor’s strong shooting from the floor (52 percent) and the foul line (86 percent) was too great to overcome.
Deaton scored 14 points with eight rebounds off the bench, and Schiele had 11 points and two assists.
Jaret Sons tallied eight points and five boards, and Gill tallied seven points and five rebounds.
The Lancers will next travel to league leader Spring Arbor on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. clash.