FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball team employed its size, speed and strength to dismantle St. Francis, 79-68, on Saturday.

The No. 4 Lancers (24-3, 14-3 Crossroads League) blocked 16 shots in the victory to help secure the season sweep of USF. It set a new record for most blocks in a single game in Grace's recorded history.

Grace is now enjoying a six-game winning streak. It's the second-best start in team history, behind only the 1982-83 team that went 25-2 through 27 games.

Grace is still tied for first place in the league standings with just one game remaining. Grace will play at Spring Arbor next week on Saturday for a chance to grab a share of the conference crown. The Lancers are aiming for their first regular season title since the 2011-12 season.

The Lancers' defense suffocated the Cougars early and often on Saturday. USF was held under 60 points until the final few minutes, and the Cougars missed 50 of their 74 made field goals.

Grace took the lead for good less than five minutes into the game. Elijah Malone buried a triple to put Grace ahead 12-11.

Malone's 3-pointer began a string of six straight plays where Grace scored. Frankie Davidson capped off the run with a fastbreak layup, pushing the lead to eight.

The Cougars were able to keep within striking distance thanks to its 3-point shooting. USF hit six 3-pointers in the half (on 46 percent shooting).

But the Lancers still went into halftime with a 43-36 advantage.

Grace blocked eight shots in the half, including four swats from Ian Scott and three from Malone. Malone, who led Grace with 11 points in the half, had four boards while shooting 4 of 6 in the half.

The Lancers shot 53 percent as a team in the first half while holding USF to 34 percent. Grace had almost as many blocked shots (8) as USF had made shots (12) in the opening half.

Grace burst into the second half with eight unanswered points. The Cougars elected to try a small-ball lineup without post players, and Grace took advantage to open up a 15-point lead.

The Lancers pulled ahead 53-38 after a steal and layup from Davidson.

Grace's size and length gave the Cougars little space to create shots on offense. USF shot only 30 percent from the floor in the second half.

The Lancers, meanwhile, wore down the smaller Cougars. Grace never lost its double-digit lead again in the second half.

A fastbreak layup from Malone put Grace on top by 21 with four minutes to play. The lead eventually grew to 22 after back-to-back triples from the Fort Wayne-native brothers Frankie Davidson and Marcus Davidson.

Grace went to its bench over the final minutes. The Cougars managed to slash a 22-point lead down to 11 in the final 101 seconds, but Grace still walked away with a comfortable margin of victory.

The Lancers incredibly blocked 16 shots in the win; USF made 24 shots overall. Ian Scott led the way with seven blocks in just 14 minutes, and Malone swatted five shots to go along with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Scott's seven blocks are the third-most all-time in a game for Grace (behind Malone's eight blocks, which has happened twice).

Jakob Gibbs amassed 16 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, and Cade Gibbs stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Jake Wadding finished with 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, Frankie Davidson had 7 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks, and Carter Stoltzfus tallied 6 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds.

Grace can finish anywhere from No. 1-3 in the league depending on next week's results. Regardless, Grace has locked up a home game in the quarterfinals of the CL Tournament, which will be held on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.