Grace outlasts Huntington for conference tourney title

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – It was electric Tuesday night inside a packed house at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. It's exactly the environment one should expect with a conference tournament title on the line. The matchup featured top-seeded Grace (28-3) against third-seeded Huntington (24-7) with the hosts eventually cutting down the nets compliments of an 80-74 win.

Both teams entered the contest as two of the hottest teams in the country. HU, ranked 15th nationally, hadn't lost since January 14 and carried an 11-game win streak into the conference championship game while the Lancers, ranked 4th nationally, brought a nine-game win streak into the evening with their last loss dating back to January 21. The aforementioned losses were to each other in regular season so tonight was the rubber match with the stakes at an all-time high.

As it turned out, Grace, who laid claim to the regular season conference title, also now boasts the tournament title after tonight's hard fought battle.

It was a game of ups and down for both squads. The Lancers nailed three straight three-pointers to start the game for a 9-0 lead with just over two minutes having ticked off the clock. By the 14:34 mark, their advantage was still nine points at 15-6.

However, over the next 13 minutes, Grace only mustered ten points to which the guests took full advantage. Specifically Zach Goodline and Landen Jordan reaped the benefit of the situation. In just over three minutes, the pair had teamed up to account for 13 of the game's next 15 points to give HU its first lead of 19-17.

It proved just the beginning of a strong finish to the half as Alford's crew upped their lead to as many as 16 before eventually heading into the locker room in front 43-29.

Ben Humrichous' putback to start the second frame pushed the lead back to 16 at 45-29. It seemed business as usual for a Forester squad that likes to kick 'em while their down by delivering blow after blow to keep opponents at bay.

But the Lancers had no intention of staying down. Behind their leading scorer Frankie Davidson, GC pieced together a game-altering 20-7 run. Davidson used up ten of his 18 points during the spurt to pull his team within three at 52-49 with 12 minutes remaining.

Despite a loud Grace crowd fully engaged again, the Foresters managed to build back an eight-point cushion, 63-55, on a Joel Dyer three from the corner. Grace went right back to work to eventually knot things up at 63-63 with 6:22 remaining.

The next four minutes saw HU lead for all but one possession when the Lancers drew another stalemate. However the guests' lead finally tumbled with 1:52 remaining on a Jake Wadding bucket that swayed the pendulum in favor of Grace 72-71. Scott Moore's team was near perfect after that as they scored on their final four possessions while limiting Huntington to just three points the rest of the way. A broken-hearted HU squad quietly conceded the loss.

Jordan finished with a team-leading 17 points and nine rebounds for HU. Goodline tossed in 16 in addition to grabbing six boards and handing out that same number of dimes. Lane Sparks and Humrichous added 13 and 11 points respectively.

Elijah Malone claimed game-high scoring honors with 19 points. In addition to Davidson's 18 points, the senior forward also collected ten rebounds for the double double. Wadding chipped in 14 points, Jakob Gibbs added 13 while Carter Stoltzfus posted eight points and ten assists.

Both teams are headed to the NAIA national tournament and will find out Thursday on the NAIA's Selection Show who their opponent will be. Grace was selected as one of 16 host sites for the first and second rounds while HU will have to wait until Thursday to find out where they're playing..

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Reportranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.