Grace College’s Logan Irwin drives against Indiana Wesleyan Tuesday night. (Photos provided by the Grace College Sports Information Department)

WINONA LAKE – Grace’s upset bid of No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan came up six minutes short on Saturday at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

The Lancers (17-6, 7-4 Crossroads League) struggled offensively, particularly in the second half, en route to a 62-55 defeat.

Grace turned the ball over a season-worst 22 times and shot just 38 percent from the floor. The Lancers led the Wildcats (21-2, 9-2 CL) for the first 23 minutes of the Top-25 showdown. But IWU used a crucial 10-2 run late in the second half to pull away from Grace.

Grace started the game off with a bang courtesy of Logan Irwin. Irwin drained a trio of 3-pointers to spark a lively crowd and force IWU into an early timeout behind 11-2.

Irwin was far from finished, however. After another triple from Irwin, the Wildcats faced their biggest deficit of the game at 20-8.

The Wildcats slowly clawed back into contention thanks to their defense. IWU forced 14 turnovers from Grace in the first half and brought the gap back to 31-27 at the break. Irwin blitzed the Wildcats with 18 points, hitting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first period.

Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the second half. But IWU struck first, scoring the first six points of the half to take its first lead of the game at 33-31. Grace battled back ahead as a 3-pointer from Chad Hoffer gave Grace a 38-35 advantage with 12:21 remaining.

The teams exchanged small runs over the next few minutes, resulting in a 44-44 tie with just over seven minutes to play. But the Wildcats had a game-changing run up their sleeve. IWU seized control with a 10-2 run, going on top 54-46 with 5:18 left in the game.

Grace managed to cut the gap to four points at 58-54 with 30.9 seconds on the clock, but the Wildcats connected on five free throws in the final minute to pull away for the final margin of victory.

With the loss, the Lancers slip to fourth place in the league standings and are one game out of second place.

In the second half, Grace made 8-of-26 from the floor (31 percent) while IWU hit 46 percent of its shots. Grace was also a woeful 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Irwin finished with a career-high 27 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals. His five 3’s were also a career-high. Brandon Vanderhegghen was the only other Lancer in double digits with 13 points. He also led all players with 11 boards and four assists.

Niko Read had six points, Dennis Williams tallied four points and two blocks, and Hoffer netted five points off the bench.

The Lancers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, will look to get back to its winning ways on Saturday with a game at Goshen at 3 p.m. The men’s game will tip off after the women’s matchup at 1 p.m.

The student body was loud and proud for Grace College Tuesday night. The host Lancers lost to No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan 62-55 in Winona Lake.