Grace’s Brycen Graber advances the ball during Friday night’s victory. Photo courtesy Jeff Nycz, Mid-South Images

By Josh Neuhart
Grace College Sports Information

WINONA LAKE – Grace’s men’s basketball team began the 2021-22 season in impressive fashion on Friday night.

Balanced scoring lifted the Lancers to a dominant 96-64 victory over Concordia to start the Lancer Tipoff Classic. Grace will conclude the tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Northwestern Ohio.

The Lancers dazzled in front of a packed, energetic crowd at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The team had several thunderous dunks, blocks and acrobatic plays to charge past the Cardinals.

Seven players reached double-figure scoring for Grace with no player topping 15 points.

Friday’s contest was close for approximately eight minutes. By the midway point of the first half, Grace already led by 13.

Ian Scott provided an instant offensive spark for Grace off the bench, scoring 10 points in a five-minute spurt.

Elijah Malone also helped set the tone early for Grace, throwing down a pair of thunderous dunks in the paint.

With six minutes remaining in the first half, Grace opened up a 39-17 lead on a triple from Carter Stoltzfus. A steal and fastbreak finish by Eddie Gill IV in the final minute put Grace ahead 56-30 at halftime.

Grace shot a sizzling 66 percent from the floor before halftime while Concordia shot 32 percent.

Frankie Davidson’s 11 points led Grace at the break, and Gill, Jake Wadding and Scott each added 10 points.

Minutes into the second half, Grace continued to assert itself. The Lancers went on a 13-2 run to open up a 34-point lead. Malone and Davidson had rim-rattling dunks during Grace’s charge in short succession.

The Cardinals had little fight in response as Grace coasted to the 32-point victory. Grace turned to its bench midway into the second half, and eight of the 11 Lancers registered a point.

Gill had an impressive stat line, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting while adding 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals with 0 turnovers in 20 minutes.

Davidson tied for scoring honors with 15 points, adding eight boards and three assists.

Malone posted a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in 23 minutes, and Wadding tallied 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Brycen Graber, the Indiana high school all-time leader in assists, began his Lancer career in fitting fashion. The freshman produced five assists on zero turnovers.

A trio of other freshmen topped 10 points in their collegiate debuts. Scott had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 21 minutes. Stoltzfus scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting on 3s, and Brett Sickafoose had three triples for his 13 points.

Marcus Davidson and Kalvary Lingenfelter also began their Grace collegiate careers on Friday night.