GOSHEN, Ind. — The Goshen College men's basketball team turned in its best defensive showing of the 2017-18 season Saturday in an 87-62 win over Grace Bible College in Gunden Gymnasium.

Christian Grider led all scorers with 29 points for the Maple Leafs (9-7). The senior tickled the twine 15 times, going 9-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the foul line, including a 5-for-8 mark from long range as he came within three points of his career high. Billy Geschke and Alhassan Barrie added 14 points apiece.

Devin Heath Granger led all players with 11 assists in addition to 12 points, posting his second official double-double of the season: while it was arguably his second such stat line in three days, Thursday's game against Findlay was an exhibition for GC. The senior and Indianapolis native moved into third place in Maple Leaf history with 488 assists (passing 2006 alum Jordan Buller). He also posted three steals to improve his career mark to 162: in the process, he eclipsed 1993 graduate Shawn Nafziger, 2013 alumnus Kyle Davis and 1981 product Ken Edwards to claim sole possession of sixth on the all-time list.

Joe Dekkengan and Brandon Winchester-Jones each scored 11 points to pace Grace Bible (8-11), an NCCAA institution. The Tigers also got nine points from 7-1 center Adam Rayner: despite out-rebounding Goshen 38-36 as a team, Grace Bible did not have a player record more than Rayner's five boards.

A pair of Grider triples capped an early 12-3 run that put the hosts up 18-6 in less than nine minutes, and Goshen would hold Grace Bible without a field goal for more than four minutes in a 9-0 spurt that put them up 37-19 later in the half. The Tigers quickly transferred the lid to the opposite basket, though, holding Goshen scoreless over the last 3:06 to close within 37-27 at the half.

Grace Bible scored seven of the first 10 points after halftime, using another 7-0 run to get within 47-43 at the 14:04 mark and 50-45 26 seconds later. Again, the Maple Leaf defense came through to provide separation as the Tigers missed their next six field-goal tries. When GBC next found the basket, a Marcus Chandler triple with 8:28 remaining, it trailed 68-51.

The Maple Leafs' defensive performance included 15 steals, matching a season high, and a 38.3 percent shooting day for the opposition, Goshen's second-best mark of the season. The Tigers were goaded into 21 giveaways, which marked the third time this year that GC has forced 20 or more.

"I'm very proud of how we played today," said Goshen interim head coach Jon Tropf. "It's tough to play over Christmas break, and not only did we bring energy, we executed as well. This was our best defensive performance of the year and a great way to finish out the non-conference schedule."

The scoreboard backed up the coach's qualitative assessment: Goshen had not held an opponent below 65 points since January 21, 2017, when the Leafs kept Marian to 60 on the same floor.

Grider and Geschke each adjusted the record books as well: Grider passed 2011 graduate Jeremy Pope for seventh place with 162 three-pointers, while Geschke leapfrogged 1992 alumnus Jeff Osborne and 1971 alum Bob Zuercher on the scoring list at 1,197.

The Maple Leafs set their sights on conference play next week: the team will play seven Crossroads League home games and seven more times away from home in the 47-day span beginning on Tuesday. GC restarts league competition with two straight home games: Spring Arbor visits at 7 p.m. Tuesday followed by Grace at 3 p.m. Saturday.