WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball team was seconds away from an upset of No. 19 St. Francis on Wednesday night.
Two free throws from Logan Irwin with 13 seconds remaining gave Grace a one-point lead against St. Francis.
But St. Francis's Kegan Comer hit a 3-pointer with one second on the clock, helping the Cougars (6-3, 1-1 Crossroads League) to a 79-77 win over Grace.
The Lancers (8-2, 1-1 CL) outrebounded St. Francis by 11 and had just nine turnovers in the contest, but Grace struggled from the free throw line in the second half to help the Cougars' survive Grace's upset bid.
Erik Bowen had the game's only double-double in just 22 minutes of action. He led all players in points (18) and rebounds (12) before fouling out with 4:02 remaining.
Grace led for much of the game, jumping out to a 19-12 advantage after tipoff. A last-second 3-pointer from Josh Ruggles lifted the Lancers to a 39-35 lead at halftime.
The Lancers maintained a slight cushion over the Cougars in the second half and pulled ahead 70-64 on a trey from Brandon Vanderhegghen with 6:52 on the clock.
But the Cougars rallied, using a critical 10-2 run to go on top 74-72 with two minutes to play. Irwin tied the game with a jumper in the lane, but St. Francis responded to reclaim its second-point lead. Irwin hit 1-of-2 from the line with a minute remaining, and Grace then made a defensive stop.
St. Francis elected to foul Irwin to get the final shot, and the strategy worked. Although Irwin buried both free throws to lead 77-76, the Cougars had the final laugh with Comer's game-winning triple.
After hitting 14-of-16 from the foul line in the first half, Grace struggled from the charity stripe after halftime. The Lancers made just 6-of-13 (46 percent) in the final 20 minutes to hamper their cause.
Irwin produced 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, and Chad Hoffer scored 13 points off the bench.
Vanderhegghen tallied nine points, and Logan Godfrey finished with eight points and six boards in 11 minutes.
The Lancers will look to bounce back on Saturday with their annual trip to Mishawaka. Grace will square off with rival No. 5 Bethel at 3 p.m., following the women's Grace/Bethel matchup in a Crossroads League doubleheader.
