-- Story provided by Calvin University Athletics --
CLEVELAND, Oh. – Calvin's run through the NCAA III Tournament came to an end as the Knights fell to Elmhurst University Friday night in a Sweet 16 Round game 79-77.
The Knights quickly gained an 8-0 lead to start the game after a layup by sophomore Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, IL / Huntley). Elmhurst came right back at Calvin to tie the game with an 16-8 run to tie the game at 16-16 with 11:55 left in the half.
It was a close contest as both teams traded buckets, but after a deep 3-pointer by senior Thad Shymanski (Ada, MI / Grand Rapids Christian) the Knights led 27-22. Calvin held a steady led over Elmhurst as the first half was winding down and thanks to a pair of made free throws by Shymanski, they led 38-31 going into halftime.
Shymanski led the Knights in points at the half with 17 points including a perfect 4-4 from the three-point line. Egekeze had 8 points and 2 assists at the half as well. Calvin shot 12-29 (41.4%) from the field and 5-12 (41.7%) from the three-point line. The Knights also outrebounded the Blue jays 23-20 in the half and had 6 total assists as well.
The Blue jays came out of the half with energy and quickly rattled of a 9-2 run to tie the game at 40-40. Calvin answered the Elmhurst run with a 12-6 run of its own after a 3-pointer by senior Emmett Warners (Grand Rapids, MI / Grand Rapids Christian) to lead 52-46.
The Knights got their lead to 58-51 with 10:47 left in the game after a layup by Marcus Bult (Wheaton, IL / Wheaton Academy), but the Blue jays weren't going anywhere. Elmhurst slowly made its way back into the game and tied it at 63-63 with 6:22 left as the game was coming down to the wire.
Both teams continued to trade buckets in the closing minutes and a 3-pointer by Shymanski tied the game at 73-73 with 3:45 left in the game. As the game was coming to an end, Elmhurst had a two-point lead after a driving layup by Warners to lead 79-77 over Calvin with 47 seconds left.
The Bluey jays had a chance to extend their lead, but the Knights got the stop on defense and had one last possession. Calvin got one last shot off in the final seconds, but it fell just short as the clock hit zero.
Shymanski led all Knights in scoring with a career-high 33 points followed by Egekeze with 13 points and 5 assists. Bult came off the bench for Calvin to score 10 points and grab 3 rebounds.
Shymnaski finishes his Calvin career with exactly 1,300 points and sits 15th on the Calvin career scoring list.
Calvin closes out a great season with a final record of 22-9. The Knights also reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
COACHES COMMENT: "It was a really hard-fought game between two really good teams. It's what you expect when you get to the Sweet 16," said Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall. "It came down to one possession at the end and we just couldn't finish it off the way we wanted to. I'm super proud of this group and what this team accomplished. It was a special group of guys that was a joy to coach. That makes it tough when it comes to an end because we were that close to taking the next step in the tournament but I'll remember this team fondly. It was a great group."
