Second-half woes doom Grace
HUNTINGTON, Ind. – After leading by as many as nine in the first half, Grace’s men’s basketball team sputtered to the finish line on Saturday at Huntington.
The Lancers (9-4, 1-4 Crossroads League) were outscored by 12 in the second half, falling 81-69 to the Foresters (9-3, 2-2 CL).
Grace’s shooting touch was missing throughout Saturday’s game; the Lancers made 40 percent as a team including 7-of-26 (27 percent) from beyond the arc.
Conversely, the Foresters shot 53 percent from the floor and a sizzling 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the 3-point line.
Haden Deaton was a consistent threat on offense for Grace, tallying 28 points with a trio of 3-pointers and a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line.
Deaton scored the first five points of Saturday’s game, and he went on to score 10 of Grace’s first 15 points.
The Foresters could not score for the first four minutes of play, and a 3-pointer from Charlie Warner put the Lancers ahead 15-6. Huntington burned two timeouts in the first seven minutes in an attempt to slow Grace’s momentum.
Huntington responded after its second timeout, going on a 10-2 run to quickly eat away at Grace’s lead.
With less than a minute left in the half, Grace still owned a five-point edge. But the Lancers committed two turnovers in the last 30 seconds, and the Foresters scored five fast points to steal momentum going into halftime.
The Lancers and Foresters were tied 33-33 at halftime with Grace only shooting 39 percent from the floor.
Huntington scored on its first possession of the second half to take the lead, and the Foresters slowly built a cushion. With 12 minutes remaining, Huntington owned an 11-point edge at 53-42.
Deaton did his best to propel Grace back into contention, burying a triple and a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to 55-51 with eight minutes on the clock.
Martin Schiele gave Grace a boost off the bench with five minutes left on the clock, netting six points to keep pressure on the Foresters.
But the Lancers were unable to come closer than four points over the final minutes of regulation.
Warner tallied 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists after shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Schiele finished with six points and three boards, and Eddie Gill IV scored seven points off the bench.
Jaret Sons just missed a double-double with eight points and nine boards, and Braxton Linville handed out six assists.
The Lancers will take a break from Crossroads League play. Grace will travel to Arizona starting next week for a pair of games in the Cactus Classic, taking on Vanguard and Thompson Rivers.