Irwin Leads Lancer Rally
WINONA LAKE – Things looked grim late for the Grace College men’s basketball team, trailing No. 24 Huntington by eight with three minutes to play.
But Logan Irwin and Greg Miller found some late-game magic to lift the Lancers to their third straight upset, winning 81-76 on Saturday.
The Lancers (11-8; 3-5 Crossroads League) ended the contest on a 15-2 run to knock off the league-leading Foresters in dramatic fashion.
Grace trailed 74-66 with 2:50 on the clock, but point guard Irwin scored eight unanswered points by himself with an and-one, a driving layup and a deep 3-pointer to tie the score at 74-74 with 1:24 remaining.
Huntington was then whistled for an offensive foul on their next possession, giving Grace a chance to take the lead. Grace made good on its opportunity, finding Miller for a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to put the Lancers ahead 77-74 with 20 seconds on the clock. It was Grace’s first lead since the game was 38-37 in the first half.
Miller then picked up a steal on the Foresters’ next possession, and Niko Read and Irwin made two free throws apiece to ice the upset in front of a frenzied Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center crowd.
Irwin, a former star at Whitko High School, finished with a season-best 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The sophomore guard, who played at Stetson University last season, also had three assists.
Senior standout Miller, who hails from Akron, made 9-of-14 from the floor for 20 points, adding eight boards and two assists.
Niko Read chipped in 11 points, Brandon Vanderhegghen scored 10 points off the bench, Caleb Featherston added nine points, and Kyle Fillman produced four points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Saturday’s game included 11 ties and 17 lead changes. The first half saw seven ties in a back-and-forth battle. Grace picked up late momentum on a buzzer-beating basket from Drew Perrin as the sophomore banked in a jumper as the first half ended.
The Foresters (16-4; 6-2 CL) maintained a slight lead for the majority of the second half, eventually extending their cushion to eight points with less than three minutes to play. But Irwin and Miller helped give Huntington its second league defeat of the season with their late-game heroics.
Grace only committed eight turnovers in the game. They also made a sizzling 62 percent of their shots in the second half, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Lancers scored 17 points off 10 Forester turnovers and also held a 44-32 advantage in points in the paint.
The win was Grace’s 999th victory as a program. The Lancers will aim for their 1,000th all-time win when they travel to Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Tuesday at 7 p.m.