WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball team had little trouble with Taylor on Saturday, beating the Trojans 79-64 on Saturday.
The No. 7 Lancers (16-2, 5-1 Crossroads League) shot 55 percent as a team from the floor while holding Taylor to 43 percent.
Grace had a well-balanced scoring day with eight players scoring at least six points. Elijah Malone led Grace with 14 points, and Jake Wadding scored 13.
The Lancers began the game with a 9-2 lead, begun with an and-1 by Malone. But Grace struggled to score after the fast start, going nearly five minutes before scoring again.
Taylor managed to tie the score at 11-11 as a result. The Lancers scored on two straight fast break layups to regain the lead and never look back.
Grace found a long-range connection to close out the first half. Brycen Graber and Carter Stoltzfus each hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend Grace's lead to double digits.
Malone also scored four straight points, including a steal and fastbreak slam.
The Lancers pushed their lead to as many as 18 and charged into halftime with a 39-24 lead.
Seven players scored for Grace in the first half led by nine points from Malone. The Lancers shot 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 8).
The Trojans committed 12 turnovers before halftime.
Four minutes into the second half, Grace's lead swelled to 20 on a dunk by Jake Wadding.
Taylor was unable to mount a serious comeback. The Trojans cut Grace's lead down to 11 with 2:30 minutes remaining, but that was the closest that Taylor could get.
Grace hit nine free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory.
Grace shot a sizzling 62 percent after halftime. Taylor lost the ball 23 times, resulting in 34 points for the Lancers.
Stoltzfus had 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals, and Ian Scott had 10 points, 4 boards and 2 blocked shots.
Eddie Gill IV shot 4 of 4 for nine points and three steals, and Frankie Davidson added eight points and six boards.
Jakob Gibbs had seven points, and Graber had six points and three assists.
The 1969-70 team was also honored at halftime of the men's game. The team was the first in Grace history to win 25 games and the first to reach a national tournament. They finished the season 26-6 and were the NCCAA national runners-up. Members of the team in attendance on Saturday were Chet Kammerer, Max Anders, Larry Christner, Mike McCoy, Jerry Ryman, Ray "Butch" Shook, Joe Shepherd, Darrell Johnson and Jim Kessler.
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Grace will play on the road twice next week, including Goshen on Wednesday and Huntington on Saturday.
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