WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The pilgrimage to Kansas City is secured again for Grace's men's basketball team.
The Lancers beat ninth-seeded Southeastern in the second round of the NAIA National Championships on Saturday afternoon by the score of 91-75.
As a result, Grace will make its fifth consecutive trip to the NAIA's Round of 16, held at historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The Lancers won the four-team Winona Lake Bracket; in the process, Grace completed a perfect 16-0 season on its home court at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Top-seeded Grace improves to 30-3 on the season, doing so with a roster that has zero seniors. The Lancers used four freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors to take down the Fire at the MOCC.
The Lancers used their trademarked balanced attack to wear down Southeastern. All eight Lancers who saw the court scored a point, including all five starters scoring in double digits.
To begin Saturday's Second Round game, Grace scored almost exclusively with its outside shooting.
The Lancers made eight of their first nine 3-pointers, burying the Fire under a barrage of triples.
Gage Sefton got Grace off to a fast start with two 3s in the opening 38 seconds. Hunter Walston also canned a pair of triples in the opening five minutes.
Eight minutes into the game, Grace swished a trifecta on three straight possessions — including Ian Raasch, Cannen Houser and Walston.
The Fire found little breathing room against Grace's defense; Southeastern scored just 16 points over the first 11 minutes, and Grace raced out to a 30-16 lead.
With four minutes remaining in the half, Grady Carpenter joined the 3-point party with back-to-back triples of his own.
Walston added one more 3-pointer for good measure during the final minute of the half, and Grace waltzed into halftime with a commanding 50-32 lead, running off the court to a thunderous applause from the MOCC crowd.
Walston buried four 3s in the first half, and Grace made 11 of 18 (61 percent) from downtown in the half. Grace's field goal percentage was 60 percent while also holding Southeastern to 27-percent shooting.
The Lancers also enjoyed an 18-4 advantage in fastbreak points.
Grace's attack quickly seemed to settle into a familiar groove in the second half. Four points from Carpenter and four more from Tyler Raasch pushed Grace's lead up to 23 (61-38) with 15 minutes on the clock.
But in the second half, it was Southeastern's turn to catch fire from deep. The Fire connected on seven of their first eight 3s in the second half.
Southeastern's lethal shooting allowed the Fire to slice Grace's cushion down to nine with 8:54 remaining. Two minutes later, the Fire pulled to within six (71-65).
But Grace's junior duo of Ian Raasch and Sefton helped steady the team; the pair combined to score seven points over the next minute as the lead quickly expanded to 12.
Southeastern trailed by double digits for the final 5:40 of the game, and Grace iced the win with nine free throws over the last three minutes.
Sefton produced the game's only double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds; he was efficient in his scoring, shooting 5 of 7 overall from the floor, 5 of 6 on 3s and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
Ian Raasch tallied 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot, and Walston collected 14 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 3 rebounds.
Carpenter finished with 13 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, and Tyler Raasch posted 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 blocked shots and 2 assists.
Houser notched seven points with three assists, Betten had 7 points, 4 boards and 2 assists, and Michael Wellman scored four.
Grace has secured its sixth 30-win season in program history — three of which have come in the past four years under head coach Scott Moore.
The Lancers' Round of 16 opponent in Kansas City is fourth-seed Cumberlands. The two teams will square off on Friday, March 20.
