FORT WAYNE, Ind. - For the second consecutive season, Grace's men's basketball team battled its way to the Crossroads League regular season championship.

The Lancers clinched the title courtesy of a 103-79 win at St. Francis on Wednesday.

The win gives Grace an automatic bid to the 2024 NAIA National Championships and the No. 1 seed in next week's CL Tournament.

Grace owns the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed, and the Lancers can guarantee sole ownership of the regular season crown with a win on Saturday.

Grace will end the regular season on Saturday against Mt. Vernon Nazarene with a doubleheader at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The women will tip off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 p.m. Saturday will also be Senior Day to honor Grace's graduating class.

Grace began the game with aggressive intent. The NAIA No. 1-ranked Lancers (26-1, 16-1 CL) used a pair of early 3-pointers to climb ahead 8-1 in the opening two minutes.

Jakob Gibbs then ripped off nine points in the span of 2:12; his 3-pointer gave Grace a 19-9 lead just over five minutes into the contest.

The Lancers' offense was just getting warmed up. Elijah Malone scored four straight points to push Grace's lead to 18.

Carter Stoltzfus canned a pair of quick triples, and a driving score from Ian Raasch lifted Grace to a stunning 41-15 lead.

The Cougars (13-14, 6-11 CL) then showed signs of life. The home team made a trio of 3s to spark a 15-4 run.

But Grace's lead was never fully in question in the half. The Lancers limited USF to just two more points over the final 5:05.

Grace scored on six of its final nine possessions, waltzing into halftime with a dominant 58-32 lead.

The Lancers shot a sizzling 62 percent from the floor and 47 percent on 3-pointers. Grace swatted five shots and doubled USF in rebounds (24 to 12).

Jakob Gibbs enjoyed 17 first-half points, and Malone had 11 points and six boards.

Grace picked up where it left off to start the second half. Malone scored five points in the first 94 seconds, and a dunk from Jake Wadding handed Grace a 30-point lead.

Cade Gibbs enjoyed an eruption of offense, pouring in 11 points in less than four minutes to keep the Lancers comfortably ahead.

With more than 12 minutes left in the game, Grace had removed its starting lineup.

Grace's second unit continued to maintain the 30-point cushion.

Grace broke the 100-point mark on a deep 3-pointer from Marcus Davidson with 3:57 left in the game. The Lancers coasted to the final 103-79 victory to lock up the conference title.

Overall, 10 players for Grace played between 16 and 23 minutes, and 11 Lancers registered a point.

Cade Gibbs and Jakob Gibbs each finished with 17 points. Cade shot 8 of 10, adding five boards and two steals in 20 minutes. Jakob shot 7 of 11 from the floor.

Malone tallied 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in 20 minutes, and Wadding added 11 points and six boards.

Stoltzfus and Brett Sickafoose each made three 3-pointers, Raasch tallied 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Ian Scott and Gage Sefton both scored six.

The Lancers finished the game shooting 58 percent from the floor and 48 percent from the 3-point line. The Cougars were held to 34 percent shooting and were outrebounded 43-27.

Malone's four blocks ties him with Eric Gaff for the most career blocks in a Lancer uniform (288 blocks).