WINONA LAKE, Ind. - An elite defensive performance lifted Grace's men's basketball team to a 66-60 victory over Marian on Saturday.
The Lancers, the NAIA's top-ranked team, are still perfect with a 20-0 record and 10-0 in the Crossroads League.
Marian, who is receiving votes in the NAIA poll, entered today with the NAIA's most efficient offense. But Grace held the Knights to their lowest point of the season, 24 points under their season average.
Grace has now held back-to-back opponents to their lowest scoring output to date (Bethel, Marian).
Elijah Malone powered Grace to 20 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks, scoring 15 points after halftime.
The Knights (14-6, 4-6 CL) jumped out to a fast start, scoring the first eight points of the contest.
Grace responded with three straight buckets in the paint from Brycen Graber, Malone and Carter Stoltzfus.
Marian continued to shoot the ball well early in the half, scoring on four straight possessions to grab a 17-7 lead.
The Lancers struggled to erase their early deficit, in part due to shooting 1 of 9 on 3-pointers before halftime.
With just under five minutes to go in the half, the Lancers were stuck on 14 points. But Grace's defense was stout, keeping Marian within range.
Grace finally broke a five-minute scoring drought when Jake Wadding spun his way to a tough bucket in the paint.
The Knights scored four points in the final minute of the half, however, pulling into halftime with a 27-20 lead.
Grace's offense had eight turnovers in the half while shooting 9 of 26 from the floor (35 percent) and 11 percent from the 3-point line.
To begin the second half, Grace asserted itself in the paint. Wadding scored six early points at the rim, and Malone bullied his way to a score as well.
A 3-pointer from Jakob Gibbs cut Marian's lead down to 32-29, forcing a timeout.
With 10 minutes to play, Grace went on a 7-0 run; the run was capped off with another score from Wadding to tie the game at 46-46.
With the crowd firmly behind them, the Lancers seemed to grow in confidence. The Knights refused to fade, however, answering with timely scores to prevent Grace from taking the lead.
With four minutes to play, Grace made another push. Malone canned a triple, which was followed by a pull-up jumper from Stoltzfus, tying the game again at 51s.
Marian hit a 3-pointer on its next possession, but Jakob Gibbs answered with a trifecta of his own on the next play.
After Marian scored again to regain the lead, Grace finally seized the lead for good. Wadding swished a 3-pointer at the top of the key, handing Grace its first lead of the game (57-56) with 3:09 to play.
Stoltzfus rattled in a triple on Grace's next play, pushing the Lancers' lead to 60-56 to keep the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center crowd in a frenzy.
The Knights made a putback layup with less than a minute remaining, slicing Grace's lead down to 60-58.
Needing a bucket, Grace turned to its All-American center. Malone beat his defender in the post, scored and was fouled. His 3-point play handed the Lancers a five-point cushion with 36 seconds remaining.
Grace took care of the rest at the free throw line, hitting three foul shots to ice the six-point win.
The win was Grace's closest final score of the year (six points) and marked Grace's lowest-scoring game of the season.
Malone's 20 points came on 7 of 13 shooting, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. He made four of his five free throws.
Wadding finished with 15 points and five boards, shooting 7 of 8 from the floor. Malone and Wadding combined to score 26 points after halftime.
Ian Scott notched 13 points with five boards, Jakob Gibbs had 8 points, 2 assists and 2 boards, and Stoltzfus chipped in 8 points, 4 boards and 2 assists.
The Lancers will face a stiff test on Wednesday with a road matchup at No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan. The Wildcats are currently one game behind Grace in the conference standings.
After Saturday's win, Grace has now locked up four straight 20-win seasons under head coach Scott Moore.
