WINONA LAKE, Ind. - No. 9 Grace's men's basketball team could not sustain a big first-half lead, falling 88-74 at Huntington on Saturday.

The start of Saturday's game could not have gone better for Grace. The Lancers scored the first 12 points of the game, including a dunk from Elijah Malone and back-to-back triples by Jake Wadding and Frankie Davidson.

The Foresters scored their first point with four minutes expired, but Grace continued its early onslaught.

Davidson converted an and-1 and dunked on two straight plays, and Malone drilled a 3-pointer to give Grace a 20-2 lead and force a second timeout by Huntington.

The Foresters had just four points after 8:00 of play had expired thanks to Grace's tenacious defense.

Grace let off the aggressiveness, however, and Huntington immediately made them pay. The Foresters used a 20-6 run to chop Grace's lead down to four.

Malone did his best to slow Huntington's momentum with a triple and a tough layup to keep Grace in front.

With 3:27 left in the half, Huntington tied the score at 32-32 and soon after took a 35-34 lead on a triple with two minutes remaining.

Grace entered the wild first half with a disappointing 41-36 deficit.

The Foresters shot a sizzling 50 percent from the floor and 46 percent on 3-pointers before halftime. Grace shot 42 percent from the floor but was behind 8-5 in turnovers.

Malone led all players with 13 points, and Davidson tallied 10 points.

The momentum for Huntington carried into the second half. The Foresters immediately buried a 3-pointer to grab an eight-point lead at 44-36.

Huntington built its lead up to 11 in the early minutes of the second half as Grace struggled to find a solution.

Grace faced a double-digit cushion for much of the second half; Huntington largely prevented Grace from making a threatening run as the Foresters scored seemingly at will. The Foresters scored 47 points after halftime, making a comeback by Grace hard to manage.

The closest Grace managed to rally was within seven points with less than five minutes to go. But Huntington quickly reasserted a double-digit lead en route to the victory.

Malone shot 6 of 9 from the floor for 21 points, adding eight rebounds and a blocked shot.

Davidson tallied 14 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, and Wadding scored 11.

Eddie Gill IV had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists, and Carter Stoltzfus, Jakob Gibbs and Ian Scott each added six points.

Grace had a season-low 10 assists in the defeat, and the Lancers also had a 15-9 disadvantage in turnovers.

The Lancers have a two-game home stand next week. Grace hosts Spring Arbor on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday at 3 p.m.