MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - A late and-1 from Elijah Malone propelled Grace's men's basketball team to a thrilling 63-62 win at Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday.
The No. 2 Lancers (9-0, 3-0 Crossroads League) stayed perfect on the season despite suffering a season-low offensive output.
Grace shot a season-low 38 percent as a team from the floor — far below its season average of 55 percent. Grace also scored nearly 30 points fewer than its season scoring average of 91 points per contest. The Lancers had not scored fewer than 82 points in a game before Wednesday's game at MVNU.
The Lancers' discipline paid dividends down the stretch. Grace had just seven turnovers in the game, including zero over the final 11:49 of regulation.
Frankie Davidson earned scoring honors with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Both halves were defensive struggles between the Lancers and Cougars (4-5, 0-3 CL). MVNU gained the first sizable lead during the first half, using a 9-0 spurt to pull ahead 22-12.
The Cougars led by 11 with six minutes to go in the half, but Grace countered with a 9-2 run to climb back. Carter Stoltzfus began the run with a 3-pointer, and Davidson and Jake Wadding followed up with and-1s one minute apart.
MVNU remained in front as the game reached halftime. Grace shot just 32 percent from the floor while MVNU made 46 percent.
Grace wasted little time erasing the deficit in the second half. Jakob Gibbs scored three quick points to begin the half, Davidson had a steal and layup, and Malone canned a 3-pointer to put Grace ahead 38-36.
The game remained close for the rest of the way; neither team led by more than four points for the final 19:48 of regulation.
With three minutes to play, Grace trailed by three at 57-54. Back-to-back turnovers by the Cougars helped Grace score four quick points to pull ahead. Stoltzfus's layup gave Grace a 58-57 advantage with 2:09 remaining.
But the Cougars countered well. Three free throws and a layup put the Cougars back on top 62-58 with 30 seconds remaining.
Grace did not panic, however. Jakob Gibbs converted a layup in the paint with 19 seconds on the clock. MVNU then missed the front-end of a bonus free throw to give the Lancers the ball again trailing by two.
After a Lancer timeout, Gibbs found Malone in the paint. Malone pump-faked, got a defender in the air, and then finished his shot through the contact with nine seconds left.
Malone completed the three-point play by making his free throw to hand Grace the 63-62 edge.
The Cougars were unable to get a shot off during their final possession; alert defending from Ian Scott and Wadding forced a turnover, and the Lancers held on for the key road victory.
Malone scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, adding seven rebounds.
Jakob Gibbs finished with 10 points, 5 boards and 2 assists, Wadding had eight points and four boards, and Stoltzfus chipped in 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Lancers return home on Saturday for another Crossroads League clash. Grace will take on St. Francis on Saturday at 3 p.m., following the women's Grace/USF game at 1 p.m. The doubleheader will be held at Grace's Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
