WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball kicked off the 2016 NCCAA National Championships with a dominant 85-66 win on Wednesday night.

The Lancers (20-13) clinched a spot in the national semifinals on Thursday at 8:45 p.m. and will play the winner of Emmanuel and Central Christian.
 

FINAL: @GraceBasketball advances to NCCAA Semi's with dominant win over Alice Lloyd. #LancerUp #NCCAAbasketball pic.twitter.com/rnnJfFP5ya

— Grace Athletics (@GCLancers) March 17, 2016

Grace started with an edge in front of an energetic crowd at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. Brandon Vanderhegghen sparked Grace early in the half with 3-pointers on back-to-back plays, and Grace stayed ahead for most of the period.

A rainbow-arching triple from Tre Olive gave Lancers a 12-point advantage at 32-20, forcing the Eagles to burn a timeout.

The Lancers continued to build on their lead, however, and went into half with a commanding 44-27 cushion.

At halftime, Vanderhegghen led all players with 15 points on a trio of 3's. Grace shot 46 percent from the floor and forced Alice Lloyd into 33 percent shooting.

Before two minutes had expired in the second half, the Lancers had built their lead up to 21 after consecutive fastbreak baskets by Caleb Featherston and Logan Irwin. 

The lead hovered around 20 for the remainder of the second half, allowing Grace coach Jim Kessler to substitute liberally after halftime. 

Overall, 13 players saw the court for Grace with 10 registering a point. Vanderhegghen led all players with 25 points, needing only 12 shot attempts to reach that mark.

Irwin was efficient with 12 points, 6 assists and 2 steals, and Erik Bowen produced 14 points in 18 minutes of action.

Tre Olive finished with 10 points and two steals, and Logan Godfrey added five points and four boards.

To keep up-to-date with the rest of the tournament, visit NCCAA Championship Central.