Strong Second Half Paces Grace
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – It was a tale of two halves on Saturday as the Grace College men’s basketball team took down Mount Vernon Nazarene on the road, 67-48.
The Lancers took a five-point halftime advantage and blew the game open in the second half en route to a 19-point win.
The pace of the first half was much slower compared to what was to come. With the score knotted at 15-15 with less than six minutes remaining in the half, Grace grabbed the lead for good.
Bruce Grimm Jr. scored six points in a row for the Lancers (15-6; 7-3 Crossroads League) as Grace used an 8-1 run to gain separation from the Cougars.
Grace’s tremendous defense forced the Cougars (10-12; 2-8 CL) into shooting 18 percent from the field in the first half. The Lancers took a 23-18 lead into the break.
The contest remained close through the first four minutes of the second half. But Elliot Smith and Greg Miller fueled a 17-5 run for Grace that proved to be the game changer.
The Lancers continued their offensive assault, building up a lead as large as 25 points with 5:16 remaining to effectively end the game.
As a team Grace held a dominant plus-15 advantage in rebounds (49-34). The Lancers’ defense also held Mount Vernon to a 12-of-54 performance (22 percent) shooting the ball, including 1-of-16 from beyond the arc.
After a subpar offensive first half, Grace clicked at a high rate in the second half. The Lancers shot 15-of-25 (60 percent) from the floor after halftime.
Miller and Grimm tied for team scoring honors with 19 points apiece. Grimm also added nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Karl Columbus reached double figures for the fourth time this season with 10 points and five boards, and Smith added nine points and five rebounds.
Freshman Caleb Featherston pulled down six rebounds off the bench, and his classmate Brandon Vanderhegghen chipped in with four points and two assists.
The Lancers will take their two-game winning streak into Tuesday’s Top 25 showdown with No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Orthopaedic Capital Center.