Brandon Vanderhegghen goes in for two points for Grace Saturday night. The sophomore from Mishawaka turned in an outstanding effort with 19 points.

WINONA LAKE – The Grace College men’s basketball team staged a remarkable rally late to put itself in position to claim the program’s first NCCAA Championship Saturday night.

The Lancers, in the end, were denied that first title in large part thanks to second-chance points.

Point Loma Nazarene converted several key rebound baskets late and then held on to nip the host Lancers 75-73 in a terrific title game in front of a large and frenzied crowd in the Manahan Orthpaedic Capital Center.

Grace, which won a Thursday semifinal game on a 3-pointer by Logan Irwin with 1.6 seconds left, went for the win again Saturday night.

The Lancers, who had trailed 73-68 with 43 seconds to play, rallied within 75-73 on an Irwin free throw with nine seconds left. Grace then forced Point Loma into a turnover with 7.2 seconds to play.

Grace, after a timeout, ended up with Irwin hoisting a highly-contested 3-pointer from the top of the key at the final horn. The shot by the former Whitko High School star was well off the mark.

Grace College coach Jim Kessler reacts late in the title game of the NCCAA Tournament.

“We didn’t get what we really wanted on that last play,” said Grace coach Jim Kessler, who was looking for his 700th career coaching victory Saturday night. “We wanted to put the ball in Greg’s hands (Greg Miller) as he popped out off a double screen. They switched , he never got the ball and we did not get a good look.

“Our guys wanted to go for the win and I let them do it. Our guys just battled right to the end and I’m very proud of them. They put us in a position to win it.”

“Where they got us was on second-chance baskets. We had to play small with some foul trouble and their bigs put it to us. And they hit some big shots, some big 3-pointers. The ones they needed to late.”

Miller closed out his brilliant career with a game-high 22 points. The senior forward from Akron was 8-14 from the field. Brandon Vanderhegghen had 19 points, Caleb Featherston 12 and Niko Read 11 for Grace, which finishes at 20-15.

The Lancers have now been runner-up five times in the NCCAA Tournament in Kessler’s 37-year tenure as head coach, including previously in 1983, 1986, 2003 and 2007. Grace won the NAIA Division II National Championship in 1992.

Hayden Lescault led a balanced attack for the champion Sea Lions, who finish at 20-11, with 14 points. Marek Klassen and AJ Ussery each had 13 points, while Junior Morgan added 11 and Sam Okhotin 10.

Point Loma, the tourney’s No. 4 seed, gave seven-seeded Grace ample opportunities to steal the win down the stretch.

Grace guard Logan Irwin looks for room to operate.

The Lancers trailed 73-68 after Lescault hit one of two free throws with 43 seconds remaining. Vanderhegghen, who had a superb game, then hit a driving hoop to cut it to 73-70. Taylor Wetherell then missed  a free throw for the Sea Lions.  Grace pulled within 73-72 on a tip-in by Miller with 16.5 ticks left. Lescault then hit two free throws with 15 seconds to play to make it 75-72.

Grace trailed 38-35 at halftime after the Sea Lions closed the opening half with a 10-2 run. Point Loma hit 6-14 from 3-point range in the first half, while Miller scored 12 points and Vanderhegghen 11 to keep Grace close.

“The game was lost at the end of the first half,” Kessler said. “We never recovered from that.”

The Sea Lions stretched their lead in the final half to as many as eight at 59-51 with 7:31 to play. The Lancers rallied on huge 3-pointers late from Vanderhegghen, Miller and Read. Read hit a tough one from the baseline with 2:00 to play to pull his team within 70-68.

Grace ended up shooting just 26-62 from the field and 12-20 from the line. The Lancers stayed close thanks to scoring 25 points off 18 Point Loma turnovers in the contest.

Point Loma finished 25-47 from the field and 16-21 from the line. The Sea Lions, who had 18 turnovers to just nine for the Lancers, held a 31-23 rebounding edge.

The Sea Lions, who won their first NCCAA title since 1987, had a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points and a 21-11 edge in bench points.

Miller was named the MVP of the Tournament. Irwin, a sophomore guard, was named to the all-tournament team.

The thrilling finale marked the end of the collegiate careers for the senior trio of Miller, Jared Treadway and Morgan Michalski.

The Grace College senior trio of Greg Miller, Jared Treadway and Morgan Michalski are shown with their runner-up plaque.