Grace beat No. 13 Tennessee Wesleyan 93-69 in the opening game of the NAIA Division II men’s tournament Thursday in Point Lookout, Mo.
Bruce Grimm Jr. led the Lancers (22-9) with 25 points, while Greg Miller had 21.
Also for Grace, Elliot Smith and Karl Columbus had 11 and Dennis Williams 10.
Grace will play California Maritime in the second round at 5:45 p.m. today.
Grace made 34 of 52 (65 percent) from the field, including 22 of 32 (69 percent) in the first half.
Tennessee Wesleyan finishes the season 25-8.
BUTLER 73, MASSACHUSETTS 62: In Amherst, Mass., Rotnei Clarke and Kameron Woods scored 17 points apiece and Andrew Smith posted a double-double as the Bulldogs snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kyle Marshall added 14 points of 6-of-7 shooting before fouling out. Smith finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Butler (23-7, 10-5 Atlantic 10 Conference), which outrebounded its fifth straight opponent.
UMass (18-10, 8-7) cut what was an eight-point deficit to one, 19-18, behind a Trey Davis three-pointer with 8:07 left in the opening frame. But Butler held the Minutemen to just four points the rest of the half en route to a 30-22 advantage at intermission.
Butler led by at least eight the rest of the way and took its largest lead, 63-47, on two free throws by Clarke.
The Bulldogs’ 17-5 advantage in offensive rebounds led to 17 second-chance points.
Women
No. 17 SOUTH CAROLINA 77, ALABAMA 35: In Duluth, Ga., Elem Ibiam scored 19 points, and Ashley Bruner pulled down 14 rebounds as the Gamecocks won in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Alabama’s total was a record low for the tournament, one fewer than the 36 scored by Mississippi State in the Tide’s 63-36 play-in victory Wednesday.
That matched the 36 scored by Alabama against LSU in 2011 and by Mississippi against LSU in 2008.
The Gamecocks (24-6) will face No. 19 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals today. The victory was their eighth straight over Alabama under fifth-year coach Dawn Staley.
Alabama (13-18) ended the season by losing 11 of its last 12 games. Daisha Simmons led the Crimson Tide with 10 points.
OHIO STATE 58, MINNESOTA 47: In Hoffman Estates, Ill., Tayler Hill scored 25 points to help Buckeyes win in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
Ashley Adams added 14 points and eight rebounds for the ninth-seeded Buckeyes (18-12), who advanced to face top-seeded and eighth-ranked Penn State in the quarterfinals today.
Ohio State trailed by as many as nine in the first half and was down 27-24 early in the second.
But the Buckeyes took control after that, going on a 19-2 run, capped by Amber Stokes’ fast-break layup, to lead 43-29. The Gophers got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
WISCONSIN 58, ILLINOIS 57: In Hoffman Estates, Ill., Morgan Paige scored 18 points, including two free throws with 3 seconds remaining to lead the Badgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
Illinois, which trailed 54-44 with 6 minutes left, took a 57-54 lead on Amber Moore’s three-pointer with 42 seconds left. Tessa Cichy made two free throws to get Wisconsin within a point.
The Badgers (12-18), who will play Purdue in today’s quarterfinals, were 21 of 21 from the free-throw line, led by Paige who made all 10 of her foul shots. Jacki Gulczynski had 15 points and eight rebounds and Cassie Rochel had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
IOWA 60, NORTHWESTERN 55: In Hoffman Estates, Ill., Morgan Johnson and Jamie Printy scored 18 points apiece to lift the Hawkeyes in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
Bethany Doolittle added 10 points and Samantha Logic grabbed 11 rebounds for Iowa (20-11), which plays No. 21 Nebraska, the Big Ten’s second seed, in today’s quarterfinals.
Iowa never trailed in the game. The Hawkeyes led 57-42 with 3 minutes to go before the Wildcats battled back to make it close.
