WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball team was unable to defeat Huntington on Senior Day, falling 74-63 on Saturday to end the regular season.
As a result of the loss, the Lancers slipped to fifth in the Crossroads League and will have to travel to Mt. Vernon Nazarene in the quarterfinals of the CL Tournament.
The quarterfinals will be held on Wednesday next week at 7 p.m.
Grace's offense largely struggled in the defeat. The Lancers shot 40 percent as a team for the game and just 4 of 22 (18 percent) on 3-pointers.
Grace also turned the ball over 20 times compared to just eight for the Foresters (21-9, 10-8 CL).
The Foresters began the game sharply, scoring the first seven points of the contest. Grace responded calmly, scoring eight straight points to surge ahead.
Huntington had the next five points to regain the lead and stayed in front for most of the half.
The Foresters pulled ahead by eight as Grace's offense sputtered through the middle portions of the half.
Grace began to find success on the break, beating the Foresters down the court on a few possessions to rally back. Jakob Gibbs had a game-high 13 points in the half, providing over half of Grace's scoring before halftime.
The Lancers (22-8, 11-7 CL) had a chance to tie the game with the score 26-24, but Grace missed a fastbreak dunk.
Huntington promptly raced down the court and scored to stop Grace's momentum. The Lancers surrendered an 8-1 run to end the first half and went into halftime down 34-25.
Grace shot just 35 percent overall from the floor, 10 percent on 3-pointers (1 of 10) and 57 percent on free throws (4 of 7). The Lancers turned the ball over eight times in the first half compared to just three turnovers by HU.
Just like the first half, the Lancers were sluggish to start the second half. It took Grace over three minutes to get on the scoreboard, and the Foresters pulled away by 17.
Grace went to its bench for a spark, and the subs came through. Cade Gibbs scored five quick points, and Brycen Graber buried a 3-pointer to slice HU's lead to eight with 10 minutes remaining.
Not long afterwards Cade Gibbs hit a triple, and Jakob Gibbs connected on an and-1 to pull the team within 58-53 with 5:10 remaining.
But Grace did not make another field goal for the next two minutes, and Huntington took advantage to grab a 12-point edge at 68-56.
The Lancers were unable to generate a miraculous late comeback, missing its final four 3s to allow Huntington to run out the clock.
Jakob Gibbs led Grace in scoring with 20 points, shooting 8 of 15 from the floor. Cade Gibbs posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Ian Scott tallied 8 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks and 2 assists, and Graber added 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Jake Wadding had 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Frankie Davidson tallied five points and four boards.
