Men's Basketball Beats the Buzzer to Clinch Sectional Trophy
-- Story provided by Trine University Athletics --
ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team was not shaken by a deficit for a majority of their Sectional Final contest against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday night. The team knocked down clutch free throws to get to overtime and buried a game-winner as the buzzer sounded to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament Championship Semifinals.
The Thunder advance to Fort Wayne, Indiana to play Trinity College out of Connecticut on Thursday, March 14. More information about that game will be available in the coming days. Trine continues to build upon their program record for wins in a season at 27-4 while the Pioneers of Platteville end their 2023-24 season at 26-5.
"I thought it was an incredibly well-played game by two really good teams," Head Coach Brooks Miller mentioned. "The playmaking that went on tonight was incredible. There were so many significant plays made by both sides."
Platteville went on an early scoring run and claimed a 13-3 lead to begin the game. Nate Tucker crashed the offensive glass and kept the Thunder afloat, and a 10-0 run sparked by a three by Aidan Smylie gave Trine a lead at 21-20.
Once again, the Pioneers battled to take a double-digit lead at 34-23 with five minutes remaining in the first half and a key three just before halftime put the visiting team ahead 42-34 at the break.
The lead for Platteville grew to a game-high 14 points at 48-34, forcing Trine into a timeout to stop the bleeding. Tucker came out of the huddle and knocked down a three-point try, but it was Drew Moore who came up huge down the stretch with an 8-0 run himself that helped get the team to within five at 58-53 with just over ten minutes remaining.
Fred Garland would find Cortez Garland inside for two and Fred Garland made it a two-point game at 65-63 with five minutes on the clock. Platteville would go on a run again and built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead at 77-67 with 1:41 left. A quick 8-0 run for Trine with a dunk by Emmanuel Megnanglo trimmed the Pioneers' lead down to two with 17 seconds remaining.
After going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe, Platteville was sent back there with a chance to go up two-possessions, but a miss on the front end of a one-and-one allowed Moore to step to the line with one second remaining. He would make the first and intentionally miss the second, only to grab his own miss and get fouled going back up for a putback. Moore settled in and calmly buried two at the line to send the game to overtime.
"We ran a miss play," Moore explained. "I saw everyone was going inside so I ran to the outside and followed my shot."
In the extra period, the Pioneers went ahead by one 83-82 thanks to a make from distance, but Smylie countered with a three of his own to make the score 85-83. The team got a stop defensively and Cortez Garland made one of two, but a foul put Platteville at the line for three and a chance to tie it. The opponents would do just that, leaving eight seconds on the clock, just enough time for Cortez Garland to send the MTI Center into a frenzy with a game-winning mid-range jumper.
"All year we've talked about staying the course and I feel like we've done that," Cortez Garland stated in the post-game press conference. "The big plays are out there and everybody made some big plays down the stretch. Once I stepped back [on the final shot] it was a rhythm shot for me."
Moore led the scoring for the Thunder with a season-high 24 points and 12-of-14 at the free throw line. Fred Garland added 20 points and Cortez Garland with 18 points. Tucker was in double figures off the bench with 13. Smylie and Megnanglo led with nine rebounds each. As a team, Trine shot 32-of-62 (51.6%) from the field and held the Pioneers to 34-of-77 (44.2%). Platteville had the lead in the game for over 40 minutes, but it was the Thunder who came out on top.
Calvin Men's Basketball Falls to Trinity College in NCAA III Quarterfinals
-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --
HARTFORD, Ct. – Calvin's season came to a close Saturday night in the national quarterfinal round of the NCAA III Tournament as the Knights fell to third-ranked Trinity College 69-62.
Calvin concludes its season with a 25-5 overall record with the Knights reaching the national quarterfinals for the seventh time.
Calvin had the early momentum, leading 14-7 in the opening eight minutes of the game, forcing Trinity (30-1) into taking an early timeout.
Trinity's defense then turned up a notch as did the physical nature of the game. The Bantams proceeded to go on a 15-1 scoring run to build a 22-15 lead.
A jumper by sophomore Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./G.R. Catholic Central HS) helped stem the tide to make it 22-17. A layup by Ressler made it 24-19 with the Bantams moving on to an eventual 30-23 halftime lead.
Ressler and sophomore Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian HS) hit early three-pointers in the second half to get the Knights within three at 32-29.
Senior Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Il./Wheaton Academy) then swished a three and was fouled on the play. The rare four-point play brought the Knights within one at 34-33.
Trinity's bench provided a counter-punch as the Bantams went on a 14-2 run to build a 48-36 lead. The Trinity lead bumped up to 16 at 55-39 with just over seven minutes left before the Knights made a late run.
Calvin went on a 13-4 run of its own, closing to within 59-52 and had a three-point attempt that would have brought the Knights within four but the shot was off the mark.
The Knights got within six at 60-54 on a pair of free throws by Varnado with 1:20 remaining. A pair of triples by sophomore Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian HS) allowed Calvin to get within six again but free throws and the clock proved to be to much for the Knights to overcome.
Varnado matched a career scoring high with 21 points with Winkle scoring 12 off the bench, Bult contributing 11 points and 10 boards and Ressler nine points. Senior Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Il./Huntley HS) had six points, eight rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot. Sophomore Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) contributed 10 rebounds and six assists.
Calvin held a 47-42 rebounding advantage and limited Trinity to 34.8 percent field goal shooting but the Knights shot just 30.0 percent from the floor overall and committed 16 turnovers while the Bantams turned the ball over just three times.
Calvin is now 4-3 all-time in NCAA III Quarterfinal games. The Knights have now made 23 NCAA III Tournament appearances and are 39-25 all-time in tournament play.
Calvin's 25 wins marks its highest win total since the 2012-13 season when it went 26-4.
