FREELAND, Mich. -- Did you know that teams from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) swept the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Basketball Championships in 1992?  This season marks 30 years since the Alma College women's basketball squad and the Calvin College men's basketball program were both crowned national champions.

Alma College's Road to the 1992 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Title

Under the leadership of head coach Charlie Goffnet, the 1991-92 Scots squad concluded the season with a 20-3 overall record, including an 11-1 mark in league play to claim the MIAA regular-season title.  Goffnet earned Coach of the Year by the American Women's Sport Federation following the season.

The NCAA Championship recap begins as follows:  "So you don't believe in destiny?"  We hope that catches your attention as we dive into Alma's road to the national championships title.  Let's begin...

Team dynamics can play a crucial role in the success of a program, as demonstrated by the Alma program.  The Scots not only had a special connection, but their parents did as well!

"We all got along and all knew our positions on the team," commented former player Amy (Elbers) Baker.  "Our parents were also close and all got along.  They traveled to all of our games and were our number one supporters.  Some of the parents still get together today and some of my teammates are still some of my closest friends.  Whenever we get together, we still talk basketball.  I was the only senior on the team, so I ended my collegiate career with a win - an outstanding win.  When I look back at our team, I didn't realize how good we were until we started winning in the postseason."

"We were a 'true team' in the sense that we didn't have one big star to shut down or one offensive threat that was the go to," stated former player Lauri (LaBeau) Hines.  "Each one of us on the team had our own special contributions from number one to number 13.  I think we were the only team in the final four to not have an All-American."

Alma entered the NCAA DIII Tournament ranked ninth in the nation and happened to face conference foe, Adrian College, in the first round of play.  Although Alma was supposed to have the home-court advantage, the NCAA placed them in Bulldog territory.

"We thought it was because of rubber floor at Alma," recalled Baker.  "We had to play Adrian for the third time in the season on their home court.  It is always hard to beat a team for the third time and we really wanted the victory.  Not having home court advantage motivated us even more.  Winning that game was the first step in our tournament run.  We had to win all of our tournament games on the road."

As far as we know, Alma is the only NCAA team out of all three divisions to play every tournament game away.  A lack of home-court advantage did not dissuade the Scots from achieving a 92-77 victory over Adrian.  Not to mention, Alma started three sophomores and two juniors!  The Scots would find that, in every tournament game, they would find themselves trailing at halftime.

The Scots traveled to Wisconsin-Eau Claire for an 83-73road win, earning them a spot the Final Four.

"Eau Claire may have been one of the best teams we faced," recalled Hines.  "During that game, Tara Sherman had this insane tip in and I remember looking at my fellow guard, Colleen Wruble, while thinking to myself, something bigger is happening here."

Alma's Final Four opponent, Luther, went into the Final Four game undefeated.  The Scots changed that after edging their foes, 81-80.  Moving on to the championship game, Alma had to face Moravian College who, not only had the home advantage, but had a 42- or 43-game winning streak as well.  The Scots didn't let anything stand in their way, as they defeated Moravian, 79-75.

"During our pregame practice before the national championship game," said Hines, "the Moravian College women's team entered the gym while we were practicing and had a photo shoot done by Sports Illustrated, as if the game had already been played.  Sports Illustrated would go on to run the photo in their magazine of the Moravian College Women's Basketball team with a small caption under the picture that stated 'Alma College went on to become the 1992 National Champions.'"

"We went 30-32 from the free throw line which helped in the win," Baker remembered.  "We had a good following of fans along with our parents to help celebrate the win.  Once the buzzer went off our parents all rushed the court.  We were told that the campus back at Alma was listening to the game on the radio.  When we would score they said you could hear cheering throughout campus."

"I will tell you that winning that championship inspired a little-known country girl to always strive for the best," former Scot Julie (Long) Riggs remarked.  "My high school counselor told my dad during my sophomore year that I was wasting my time thinking about playing ball, let alone going to college; I was (and I quote her) 'going to be nothing but a farmer's wife and grow up never leaving the small town and he should just accept that'.  My dad never told me that until I graduated from Alma.  Being a part of the Lady Scots was my sorority.  Every other player had joined a sisterhood, but they were mine."

"The NCAA changed the rule after that game that no team will have a home court advantage for the finals again," added Hines.  "We definitely felt disrespected and certainly carried a chip on our shoulders from the get go, from losing home court advantage against Adrian, to playing the championship game on Moravian's home court.  I know that lended to the strength of our team.  We were the underdogs times twelve, in our eyes, and we liked being in that position.  I, and I think we as a team, never felt any pressure in any of the tournament games, which is not the norm - in fact very unusual.  In most big games, there is always pressure felt, but in the tournament we carried this calm, having fun, in the moment, feeling.  It was a feeling of 'no one is going to stop us' without ever having to say it out loud.  And that feeling was never stronger then when we took the court for the championship game.  We could sense Moravian's nerves, they had a lot to live up to and we took advantage of that."

Hines shared an article that was written by the NCAA preview magazine:

Calvin College's Road to the 1992 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Title

With head coach Ed Douma at the helm of the 1991-92 Calvin men's basketball program, the Knights went 31-1 overall with a perfect 12-0 conference record to earn the MIAA Championship title.  The Calvin staff also included Jim Timmer Sr. and Gregg Afman – all Calvin grads and former Calvin men's basketball players.  Coach Douma was named 1992 National Coach of the Year following the 1991-92 campaign.

Let's set the scene... Australia 1992 preseason trip.  A close-knit team with a lot of experience; players from the 1990 squad that made it to the Final Four squad and players from the 1991 team that played in the Elight Eight.  High expectations for the 1991-92 season.

"We had great team dynamics on a few different levels," former Calvin point guard Matt Harrison remarked.  "First, we genuinely liked each other and had fun together on and off the court.  Second, everyone knew and understood their role on the team.  The guys that played a lot of minutes fit together well, played their roles and never tried to do too much.  And the guys who did not play a lot were great in practice and pushed the starters hard.  Certainly our time in Australia gave us a head start on team chemistry both on and off the court."

"The opportunity to go on a 16-day tour to Australia in the summer of '91 only added to that confidence," commented former Calvin forward Mike LeFebre.  "We were able to practice as a team in the summer leading up to that trip and then played nine games in Australia which gave us the opportunity to settle into roles and become very close as a team."

Calvin returned to the United States with a bang, upending Division II Ferris State in overtime.  "We were down three with Ferris shooting the second of two free throws when a lane violation occurred wiping out the second Ferris free throw that would have put them up four with about eight seconds left," recalls current Calvin Sports Information Director Jeff Febus.  Febus was a senior at Calvin during the 1991-92 season and would broadcast many of the games for the Knights.  "We whipped the ball down the court and LeFebre hit a triple from the left wing that sent the game into overtime.  Matt Rottman went nuts in OT with a bunch of threes of his own and we stole the win."

Fast forward to the NCAA Tournament.

Calvin and Hope were both slated to compete in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championships, the Knights with the automatic berth and Hope with an at-large bid.  Calvin had a first-round bye and would play the winner of Hope vs. Wittenberg.  Luck has it that the two MIAA rivals would have a third showdown that year.

"We had an epic rematch at our place in the second round of the NCAAs," stated Febus.  "We prevailed 91-88.  Neither could stop the other on defense.  LeFebre came up with 28 points – had the game of his life and we held them off."

LeFebre, a Holland native, talked us through facing the Flying Dutchmen and having the game of his life:  "Having grown up in Hope's backyard and as the kid who always rooted for Calvin, it was really special to play them.  What was ironic was that in 1990-91 Hope had a really special team that beat us twice during the season, but we were able to go into the old Holland Civic Center in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament and beat them in overtime and advance to the Sweet 16 and eventually the final 8.  Now in 1992 the roles were reversed, as we had beaten them twice during the season and they were trying to end our special season.  With the magnitude of that game in my senior season, it's a great memory for me.  To have my career high in that moment and in that game was really special."

"We did not talk about this during the week," Harrison added, "but it was definitely in the back of our minds that we had beaten them the previous season in the national tournament in our third matchup after losing to them twice.  We knew they were very good and would have to play very well to beat Hope a third time.  It was a great environment, with our student section packed over an hour before the game.  It was a back and forth, well played game and we ended up with the last run to win.  Mike LeFebre played an incredible game!"

The Knights edged Gustavus Adolphus 69-68 in the Sweet 16 and advanced to the national quarterfinal for a matchup against a tough Otterbein University team.  Calvin was down by double digits in the first half, but gained momentum to defeat their opponent 88-67.

"Otterbein jumped on us early in that game and had a lot of momentum," stated Harrison.  "Coach took an early timeout, but it took us a while to get back in the game.  We had some good play off the bench, particularly from BJ Westra and Ryan Stevens.  Chris Knoester hit some big threes at the end of the first half and the first part of the second half to help us build a lead.  This was a very gratifying win after losing to Otterbein the previous year on a last second shot.  Personally it felt really good as Otterbein had a couple guards who were in my face most of the game.  If I remember right I took a cheap shot after the game was out of reach from one of them and it felt good watching him walk off the floor after fouling out."

The Knights advanced to the semifinals for an 81-40 victory over Jersey City State, punching a ticket for Calvin into the championship game.

According to Febus, the championship matchup against Rochester was very "cagey".  LeFebre had a nasty injury after receiving an errant elbow above his eye about 30 seconds before halftime.  After coming back from the locker room all patched up with stitches, the crowd went wild.

"It was really quite surreal to be honest," commented LeFebre.  "I was ushered off the floor to the trainer's room and never saw my teammates or coaches during halftime, as they put five stitches just under my eyebrow.  My only memory of that was begging them to hurry so I could get back on the floor, but I knew it took long enough that I was missing the start of the second half.  I think there were about 15 or 16 minutes left in the game when I walked back out to the court.  I came out on the opposite side from where our bench was located so I had to walk all the way around the court.  Just before I had walked out, Chris Knoester had gone down after twisting his knee and he was still down on the floor when I first appeared.  Our crowd was likely getting nervous that we were now down two players, so when I appeared they made a lot of noise.  It was probably their collective relief that they weren't losing everyone after all.  The timing of it all was really crazy but, in the moment, I didn't think much of it because we were concerned about Chris.  When I saw the video later and was able to see how it all played out, I could see what everyone was talking about and how the timing was unbelievable."

After a close game throughout, the Knights pulled away for a 62-49 victory and the 1992 NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament title.  This accomplishment paved the way as the first of 11 national team championships at Calvin.

Febus reflects, "I remember going down on the floor after finishing my broadcast and the atmosphere was electric.  Any time you win a national title in any sport – it's just a jolt of energy that is hard to explain.  For us, this was our first team national championship in any sport so it was huge.  Many of these guys were my close friends.  Steve Honderd grew up two blocks from me and ran around with the neighborhood group that I was a part of.  Chris Knoester was a childhood friend of mine, as his mother was my mother's best friend, so we spent a lot of time together growing up.  To see your buddies do this at Calvin was unique and amazing all at the same time."

LeFebre added, "One of the many things that made it such a special year was that we had a really large group of friends and classmates on campus who followed us everywhere we played.  Throughout our tournament run they rushed the floor after every game and celebrated with us on the court.  It felt like one big celebration after another, but it culminated on that floor at Wittenberg when we won the National Championship.  It was instant bedlam on the floor and just so fun to celebrate with all our friends."

"I learned a lot of life lessons about hard work, teamwork, and leadership that has helped me in many different areas of my life," stated Harrison.  "I've spent a lot of my vocational life leading teams of staff and volunteers and my time as a captain and point guard certainly helped me develop some leadership qualities that I've used in my life."

"I look back on my experience as a member of the Calvin Basketball team as one of the most impactful times in my life," remarked LeFebre.  "My coaches and teammates had very high expectations for our team and I cherish the memories of working together to achieve our dreams.  Our team has made an effort to get together over the years in spite of three guys living out west and a few others living outside of Michigan.  I'm grateful the guys prioritize it. We have a 30th anniversary weekend planned in Arizona at the end of March and most of us are able to make it.  I think we'll always be close because we worked so hard and had so much fun together during our years at Calvin.  Those shared mountaintop experiences will always keep us connected."

Pictured Above:  1991-92 team's 20-year reunion.