Several former area stars are key for Bethel, Grace
The Bethel University men’s basketball team was one and done in the NAIA Division 1 National Tournament a year ago.
The Pilots hope to reverse that result this time around.
Bethel, which knows a thing or two about success in postseason play in its tradition rich history, received an atlarge bid to the 64-team event. This will be Bethel’s 19th appearance in the tournament, including three runs to national championships.
The Pilots will face Louisiana State University of Alexandria (24-6) on Friday at 7 p.m. in Olathe, Kansas. The winner of that opening round game will play either Mid-America Nazarene (Kansas), which is 25-5, or Central Baptist (Arkansas), which is 25-6, Saturday. That winner advances to the Sweet 16 in Kansas City on March 21.
Bethel, under the direction of former LaPorte High School star Steve Drabyn, fashioned a 19-10 mark this season. The Pilots went 10-8 in the ultra-competitive Crossroads League, which has five teams in the national tourney field highlighted by No. 1 Grace College from Winona Lake, Ind.
Drew Lutz, a name very familiar to area hoops fans, will lead the Pilots in his final postseason. The 6-1 graduate senior guard is in his second season at Bethel after playing for three seasons at Incarnate Word, an NCAA Division 1 program in Texas.
Lutz, a former star at Penn High School, is averaging 24.6 points-pergame. He is shooting 34 percent on 3pointers and 86 percent from the free throw line with a season high of 41 points. Lutz has scored 1,185 points in two seasons at Bethel and went over 2,000 points in his collegiate career earlier this season. He was a first team selection to the All-Crossroads League team.
Lutz led the Pilots to the NCCAA National Championship a year ago after they were sidelined from the NAIA National Tournament. He scored 35 points in the championship game win despite being injured in Bethel’s semifinal game. Lutz was named the NCCAA
Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2023.
The Pilots feature several former area prep standouts as part of their roster. Preston Phillips, a Jimtown High School product, averages 11.4 points per game. The graduate student earned honorable mention all-league honors. The Pilots also count on Clay Hilliard and Trent Edwards. Hillard, a graduate student from Plymouth, averages 7.8 ppg. and senior Edwards, who played at NorthWood High School, averages 6.3 ppg. Bethel also has sophomore Silas Kaser, a John Glenn product, and freshman Alex Ellenson, who played at Northridge.
Locals helping top seed Lancers
A pair of former area prep standouts have helped Grace College to a dominating season.
The Lancers sit at 30-1 and are the overall No. 1 seed for the NAIA Division 1 National Tournament. Grace will host first and second round games Friday and Saturday on their homecourt in Winona Lake, where it is 17-0 this season.
The duo of Carter Stoltzfus and Ian Raasch have helped coach Scott Moore’s team to a second straight 30win season for the first time in program history.
Stoltzfus, a 6-0 junior guard, averages 4 ppg. and has hit 26 treys. The former Northridge High School star had a season high 13 points in a league win over Bethel.
Raasch, a 6-6 freshman forward, is averaging five points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Raasch helped lead NorthWood to a 28-2 mark and the Class 3A state title in 2023. He was an Indiana All-Star choice and earned the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award for the Class 3A State Finals. Raasch has a season high 16 points versus Kentucky Christian.
Grace, which went 17-1 in Crossroads League play and won the league tournament for the third straight year, will face Washington Adventist (Maryland) Friday at 5 p.m. That winner will play either Union (Kentucky) or Ottawa (Arizona) on Saturday at 5 p.m. for a spot in the Sweet 16 of the national tourney.
The Grace roster boasts 13 of its 15 players from Indiana. Elijah Malone, a
Bethel graduate senior Preston Phillips (23 in white) puts up a tough-angled layup over Grace College junior Ian Scott (23 in red) during a game earlier in the season.
6-10 senior center, leads the team at 17 points and eight rebounds per contest. Malone, who played at Prairie Heights High School in LaGrange, was the Crossroads Player of the Year.
Grace has won six in a row since its lone loss on Feb. 14 at league foe Huntington University. The Lancers beat No.
6 Indiana Wesleyan University 101-80 in the conference tourney finale March 5.
The Lancers, who boast a winning margin of 22.1 ppg., are the overall No. 1 seed in the national event for the first time ever. They advanced to the Elite Eight in 2023, their deepest run ever in the NAIA Division I tournament.