WINONA LAKE, Ind. - The Marian University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking defeat to the Grace College Lancers, 63-57, on Tuesday night at then Orthopaedic Capital Center in Winona Lake, Ind.

The Knights outscored the Lancers, 19-7, over the first 7:10 to take a 12-point lead with 12:50 remaining in the first half. But, the Lancers took advantage of five Knights turnovers to spark a 9-1 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to four, 20-16, with 8:37 remaining in the half.

A three-pointer by junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) put the Knights back up by seven, 23-16, but the Lancers outscored the Knights 14-6 over the final 7:50 to move within one, 30-29, at the half.

A layup by sophomore Jameson Wheeler (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) put the Knights up by three, 32-29, to open the second half, but Grace went on a 9-0 run to take a six-point lead, 38-32, with 14:28 remaining in the game.

A 7-1 Knights run tied the score, 39-39, with 11:37 to go. After pushing the lead back to five, 46-41, with 8:18 remaining, the Knights cut it back to four on a free throw. However, after going zero for its first 14 shots from three-point range, the Lancers buried their first three of the evening to push the lead to seven, 49-42, with 6:28 to go.

The lead got as high as nine, 52-43, with 3:56 to go before the Knights made a run. A 10-3 Knights run over the next 2:20 cut the lead to two, 55-53, with 1:36 remaining. A pair of free throws gave Grace a four-point lead, 57-53, with 1:15 to go, but a steal and layup by Wheeler cut it back to two, 57-55, with 28 seconds to go.

After a timeout, the Knights looked for a steal, but the Lancers crossed mid-court and the Knights left David Swanson wide open on the left block. A skip pass found Swanson, who went up for a game-sealing layup, but what looked like a smart foul by junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) turned out to be an intentional foul that gave the Lancers two free throws and the ball back with 12 seconds remaining. Swanson hit the freebies and put Grace up by four, 59-55.

The Lancers sank their free throws and pushed the lead to eight, 63-55, before freshman Matt Dickerson (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) hit a pair of freebies to set the final score at 63-57.

The Knights fell to 4-4 on the season and 0-2 in Mid-Central College Conference play, while the Lancers improved to 5-3 and 2-0 in MCC play.

Tucker led the way with a double-double after he tallied 24 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He also added a game-high four steals. Wheeler added 12 points for the Knights, while Dickerson added six boards.

The Knights play host to the No. 23-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday at the Physical Education Center at 3 p.m. The game will air on XL 950 AM (WXLW) with Brad Wochomurka (p-b-p) and Director of Athletics Joe Haklin (color) calling all the action. LIVE STATISTICS will also be provided at www.muknights.com.