WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace's men's basketball team led from start to finish in a 106-61 rout of Union in the NAIA Second Round.
The No. 1 Lancers (32-1) were dominant to win the Winona Lake Bracket, punching their ticket to Kansas City for the remainder of the NAIA National Championships.
Grace has now made it to Kansas City for the third straight season under head coach Scott Moore.
Grace will play on Thursday in the NAIA's "Sweet Sixteen." The Lancers, the overall No. 1 seed in the field, will take on fifth-seeded Northwestern (Iowa) in the round of 16. Northwestern is ranked No. 13 in the final NAIA poll.
The Lancers shot a sizzling 64 percent from the floor and made 59 percent from the 3-point line — one night after making just 1 of 13 on 3s.
Jakob Gibbs tied a career high with 28 points, doing so in just 21 minutes. Elijah Malone racked up 24 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Grace was determined to not lose its final home game of the season, completing a perfect 19-0 year at home at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The Lancers were electric in the first half in front of a standing-room only crowd. Grace made its first eight field goals, putting the Bulldogs into a hole they could not climb out of.
Jakob Gibbs scored seven points in the first four minutes, and Elijah Malone added seven as well.
Union was forced to call timeout three minutes into the game, but it did little to slow down the Lancers' onslaught. Malone's 3-pointer five minutes into the game put Grace ahead 21-4.
Grace continued to feast on a steady diet of fast breaks and post finishes. The smaller Bulldogs had no answer for Grace's size.
With seven minutes to play, Grace had opened up a 20-point lead at 39-19.
The Lancers coasted into halftime with a sizable 58-31 lead.
Jakob Gibbs (21 points) and Malone (15 points) combined to score 36 points, outscoring the Bulldogs by themselves.
The Lancers made 20 of 28 from the floor (71 percent) in the half and 6 of 8 on 3s (75 percent). Union was held to 38 percent shooting.
Grace scored 28 points in the paint in the half and 20 fastbreak points.
The Lancers began the second half where they left off. Malone dunked on Grace's first possession, Jakob Gibbs converted an and-1 on the next play, and Cade Gibbs followed that up with a dunk.
Midway through the second half, Gage Sefton scored four quick points; his final basket was an athletic dunk which put Grace ahead 87-47.
Sefton also put Grace above the century mark with a jumper with four minutes remaining.
Cole Beck put the finishing touches on Grace's win with a crafty driving layup as the Lancers rolled to the 45-point win.
Jakob Gibbs shot 10 of 13 for his 28 points, adding five rebounds and an assist. Malone shot 8 of 10 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the 3-point line.
Jake Wadding scored all 10 of his points in the first half, chipping in four boards with three assists.
Cade Gibbs had nine points, and Sefton and Brett Sickafoose each scored eight.
Brycen Graber produced 9 assists, 3 boards and 2 points, Carter Stoltzfus had six assists and five rebounds, and Marcus Davidson had 3 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Ian Scott tallied 7 points, 6 boards and 2 assists, and Ian Raasch finished with five points and four boards.
