BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - The magical postseason run for Grace's men's basketball team continued on Saturday with another road victory.

The Lancers stunned the No. 2 seed Olivet Nazarene on the road, winning 90-87 in a thrilling affair.

Elijah Malone played the role of hero while going head to head with ONU's NAIA Player of the Year candidate Alex Gross.

Both players amassed 32 points in a gripping matchup, but it was Malone who had the final say. The center drilled the final of his five 3-pointers with 13 seconds on the clock, putting the Lancers on top for good.

Malone's shot propels the Lancers to Kansas City for the final site of the NAIA Basketball Championships. The remainder of the tournament will be held at the historic Municipal Auditorium for the final 16 teams. 

No. 7 seed Grace will begin the round of 16 on either Thursday or Friday against the winner of No. 3 Idaho and No. 6 Ottawa.

Jakob Gibbs opened the scoring with a trifecta on Grace's first possession.

ONU responded with the next five points, but a monstrous Elijah Malone dunk had the teams tied at five apiece.

The Lancers and the Tigers traded baskets as neither team could gain a lead greater than three points.

ONU was the first team to make an offensive run, using a 14-4 spurt to gain a significant lead over the seventh seeded Lancers.

Cade Gibbs and Malone hit a pair of trey's as Grace cut the lead down to 32-28.

Grace's defense struggled to slow down ONU's offense as the Tigers  built their lead back to double digits.

The Lancers trailed by as many as 13, and at the half were looking at a 55-43 deficit.

Grace shot an impressive 58 percent from the floor in the first half, but had no answer for ONU who hit at an eye popping 66 percent.

Malone led Grace with 17 points and four rebounds.

The Lancers came out of the intermission on fire, and started the second half on an 11-0 run.

Four Lancers scored during the run, and Frankie Davidson put an exclamation mark on the scoring barrage with a thunderous slam that forced ONU to call a timeout.

The Tigers finally found paydirt four minutes into the half, but the Lancers' furious charge couldn't be slowed.

Eddie Gill IV was fouled on an acrobatic layup, and completed the 3-point play at the charity stripe to catapult Grace back into the lead at 58-57.

The Tigers regained their lead, but the Lancers refused to go away.

After ONU extended their lead to two possessions, Carter Stoltzfus hit a shot from behind the arc to cut the deficit back to one-point.

The Tigers again extended their lead, pushing their advantage to 79-72.

Grace's aggressiveness in the paint resulted in back-to-back trips to the free-throw line, and Jake Wadding converted a wide open 3-point shot to tie the game at 79 with five minutes left in the game.

ONU briefly retook the lead after a successful trip to the free throw line, but it would be short lived.

The Lancers went ahead after Malone hit a shot from 3-point land that was met with exuberant applause from the well represented Lancer faithful.

With two minutes remaining Grace led by three, but the top seeded Tigers would not go down without a fight.

ONU went on a 4-0 run and grabbed an 87-86 lead with just 23 seconds left on the clock.

With 13 seconds left on the ensuing possession, Malone found himself all alone at the top of the arc and calmly knocked in the go ahead bucket as Grace's bench exploded in celebration.

ONU tried to muster a response, but saw their would be game winning shot blocked by Malone. 

Stoltzfus hit a free throw with 1.7 seconds to push Grace ahead 90-87, and the Tigers were unable to get a desperation shot off in time as Grace pulled off the 90-87 upset over No. 2 Olivet Nazarene.

"We got a couple stops early and were able to string together four-five scores in a row, and it's a tournament game and the momentum shifted back to our side," Lancers' head coach Scott Moore said. "They took it back with a nine-point lead late in the game, but [Malone] just makes you look good at times and that's what we did tonight."

Malone had a career-high 32 points to go along with seven rebounds and 3 blocks. He also hit on 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. On his matchup with All-American center Gross, Malone said: "He's a great player; he can do almost anything on the court, great footwork, great patience. Just being able to battle with someone like that for 40 minutes, that's honestly where the love of the game comes from."

Wadding had 16 points and five rebounds. Davidson (13 points) and Jakob Gibbs (10 points) rounded out Grace's double-digit scorers.

The Lancers finished the game 54 percent from the floor and 52 percent from 3-point land, compared to Olivet Nazarene's 53 and 26 percent.