MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - The NAIA top-ranked Grace men's basketball team secured a 98-79 win at Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday.

The Lancers (18-0, 8-0 Crossroads League) were dominant offensively in the win, shooting 62 percent from the floor as a team.

Grace's balanced box score showed seven players with at least eight points and no player seeing more than 25 minutes of court time.

Jakob Gibbs had scoring honors on the night with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.

The Lancers are enjoying their best start to a year in team history. Grace sits alone atop the conference, winning the team's games by an average of 26.3 points per game.

Grace has won 31 of its past 32 games over the past two seasons under head coach Scott Moore.

Grace began the game on a sharp note. Brycen Graber buried a 3-pointer on the first play, and Jake Wadding scored two layups in short succession.

The Lancers scored the first eight points of the game, aided by two forced turnovers.

Grace pushed its early advantage to 16-5 thanks to a series of fastbreak scores.

The Cougars (13-6, 3-6 CL) did their part to keep the score close, hitting a trio of 3-pointers in the first seven minutes.

As the half progressed, however, the Lancers began to punish MVNU in the paint with a variety of post touches. Wadding (12 points), Elijah Malone (8 points) and Ian Scott (4 points) combined to shoot 11 of 13 before halftime, totaling 24 points between the trio of post players.

The Cougars managed to pull within 10 at 41-31, but Grace responded with layups from Ian Raasch and Wadding to increase the visitors' lead.

A late triple from Jakob Gibbs handed Grace a commanding 54-39 lead as the game reached halftime.

Grace shot a sizzling 77 percent from the floor in the half, outrebounding MVNU 19-9 as well. MVNU shot well from beyond the arc (48 percent), but they struggled to contain Grace's high-powered attack.

Jakob Gibbs muscled his way to an and-1 to begin Grace's scoring in the second half. Two more free throws from him, coupled with a breakaway layup from Cade Gibbs, provided the Lancers with their largest lead of the contest at 62-45.

MVNU made its largest rally in response, pulling to within nine at 65-56.

Cade Gibbs put an end to that run with a 3-pointer, Malone added two free throws, and Brett Sickafoose canned a timely 3-pointer.

Grace's relentless defense limited the Cougars' chances to rally again. The Lancers forced MVNU into several empty possessions, allowing Grace to race down the court and score.

Grace eventually increased its cushion to 23 (91-68) with four minutes remaining, and the Lancers eased to the final buzzer to collect their 18th straight win.

Seven players for Grace finished the game shooting 50 percent or better. The Cougars were held to 39 percent shooting after halftime, including 3 of 18 (17 percent) from beyond the 3-point line.

Grace outrebounded MVNU by 27 and had a 23-15 edge in assists as well.

Wadding finished with 16 points, 6 boards and 2 assists, Malone had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block, and Cade Gibbs added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Gage Sefton produced nine points with four rebounds, and Sickafoose scored eight points with three assists.

Graber tallied 8 points, 3 assists, 3 boards and 1 steal, and Ian Scott finished with 4 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Raasch chipped in four points, and Carter Stoltzfus had 2 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal.

The Lancers will remain on the road on Wednesday, traveling to rival No. 23 Bethel.