WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The eighth-ranked Embry-Riddle men's basketball suffered a setback in its 2011-12 campaign as No. 9 Grace handed the Blue and Gold its first loss of the season in the championship game of the KCCCF Hoops for Hope Classic hosted by the Lancers on Saturday. Grace remained unbeaten at 4-0 with the win, while the Eagles move to 2-1 on the year.

The first six and a half minutes of play featured five ties and eight lead changes as both teams tried to establish a rhythm. At the 14:45 mark, Bruce Grimm converted a pair of free throws that gave the Lancers their fourth lead of the game (13-12). Those free throws started and 8-3 run, including three straight buckets by Duke Johnson who seemed to find his range midway through the half, and helped the host team widen the gap.

The Lancers built their lead to as many as eight points, but the Eagles, led by Ray Graham who totaled 16 points, most of the mid-range jump shot variety, closed the gap to three points with 1:57 left in the half. Both teams shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first stanza, but the Lancers' front court, which featured two players topping 6-11, held a 17-13 advantage on the boards and made six more trips to the charity stripe, which helped them take a 38-33 advantage into the halftime break.

Grace was able to increase the lead back to eight points (44-26) less than two minutes into the second half, but the Eagles, despite being called for nine fouls to just two on the Lancers, maintained their composure and kept within striking distance. ERAU narrowed the gap to three (48-45) before Jacob Peattie put Grace back up by five with 15:14 left to play.

A dead ball at the 14:54 mark prompted one of two media timeouts in the second half. The Eagles came out of the huddle with renewed energy both on the floor and on the bench. With the coaches issuing instructions and the enthusiastic and vocal support of the players on the bench, the Eagles forced Grace to turn the ball over on five consecutive possessions. ERAU capitalized on the momentum swing and recorded the first tie of the second half (53-53) with 11:48 left to play, prompting Grace head coach, Jim Kessler, to call a timeout.

The timeout did not have the desired effect as the Lancers missed on their next three-point attempt and then coughed up the offensive rebound to give possession back to the Eagles. ERAU took the ball down the court and got the ball to Graham on the inside and the senior converted the layup to give the Eagles their first lead since the 14:50 mark of the first half. The lead was short-lived as the Lancers used three straight possessions to go back on top by three and led by four with 7:13 left to play.

At the 6:02 mark, Graham made it a two-point game (61-59) with a layup, and had a chance to pull ERAU within one after being fouled on the play. Graham missed the free throw attempt, but the Lancers weren't able to hold on to the rebound, giving the ball back to the Eagles. The ensuing inbounds play went to DeForest Carter who drove to the basket before completing a quick dish to Graham and Graham came through with an emphatic dunk and returned to the charity stripe after drawing a foul once again. This time he converted on the free throw opportunity and reclaimed a one-point advantage for the Blue and Gold with 5:55 left to play.

The next Grace possession saw Jacob Peattie complete a feed from Johnson and that basket sparked a 12-1 Lancer run over the next two plus minutes. The Eagles got three-pointers from Carter and Jeremiah Applin, but they were not enough to close the gap, resulting in the nine-point Grace win.

Graham led all scorers with 25 points, while three other Eagle players put up double-digit scoring performances, including Carter (12 pts.), Applin (11 pts.) and Blake Tocuhard (10 pts.). Graham and Carter were both named to the All-Tournament team with Graham averaging 21 points and 7.5 rebounds and Carter averaging 12 points and 5.5 boards over the two-game stretch.

The Eagles will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday when they travel to Temple Terrace, Fla. to take on Florida College.