Wheaton led 41-31 at halftime, as the Thunder closed the final 1:30 of the game with a 9-2 scoring spurt, aided by a three-pointer by senior Jon Nielson to close out the first half. Wheaton’s biggest lead of the second half was a nine-point advantage coming on three different occasions; the last was a 54-45 Thunder lead with 12:40 left in regulation. Shortly after that Calvin put together 12-unanswered points to take a 57-54 lead with 9:15 left in regulation. Calvin 61-59 with 7:42 left in regulation when Wheaton put together a 9-0 run to take a 68-61 lead with 5:05 left in the contest. Calvin used an 8-1 scoring run to tie the game at 69-69 with 2:32 left in regulation.
A three-pointer by Wheaton freshman Kent Raymond gave the hosts a 72-69 lead with 2:10 left. Calvin’s Ricky Shilts drained a basket, cutting the hosts’ lead to 72-71 with 1:35 left in the game. The two teams traded baskets to make it a 74-73 Wheaton advantage with 55-seconds left in regulation. With about seven-seconds left in regulation Calvin’s Joel Hoekstra took a 10-foot shot that bounced off of the rim and was rebounded by Aultman who put the ball back into the basket to give the Knights a 75-74 lead with 2.5-seconds left in regulation. Wheaton’s in-bounds pass was intercepted by Calvin’s Josh Meckes to secure the victory for the guests. Aultman said of his game-winning basket, “I saw the initial shot hitting off the rim, but I didn’t have my hands up so I didn’t really see the ball coming to me.”
Calvin head coach Kevin VandeStreek said of his team’s rally from the 10-point halftime deficit, “I think we started the second half very assertive. The only thing I talked about at the half was assertiveness. We were able to get nine offensive rebounds which enabled us to get more baskets. We shot the three so well the last time we played them that they stayed out on us more which enabled us to get the ball into the post. Being down 10 points in a college basketball game today is nothing; we were able to get a much better feel for the game in the second half.”
Wheaton head coach Bill Harris said of the game, “It was a great game from a fans point of view. From the coaches perspective I thought we gave it away. We gave up 31 points in the first half, and 44 in the second. They (Calvin) had four offensive rebounds in the first half, and nine in the second.” Harris concluded, “The only thing we failed to do defensively tonight was box out. If we could have gotten one or two defensive rebounds in the last two minutes it could have been a different score.”
Steven led the Thunder with a game-high 27 points in his final game in a Wheaton uniform. He shot 9-for-16 from the field, with 4-for-6 from three-point range and four rebounds. Freshman Kent Raymond scored 24 points, with 8-for-11 shooting from the field and a 5-for-8 effort from three-point range and three assists. Senior center Jim Fortosis played well in his final collegiate game, with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior guard Jon Nielson scored seven points, with three assists. Nielson ends his career with 411 assists, in third place on Wheaton’s all-time assists list and 1,014 points. Senior forward Martin Trimiew grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and scored four points. Trimiew scored a basket with 14:00 left in the first half to become the 36th Wheaton basketball player to record 1,000 career points, ending his career with 1,003 career points, 332 career rebounds and a 52.2% (390-747) field goal percentage.
Hoekstra led four Calvin players in double digits with 20 points and three steals. Aultman scored 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Shilts scored 11 points with four assists and Brad Sall came off of the Knights’ bench to score 10 points.
Wheaton shot 65% (13-20) from the field in the first half, with a 44% (11-25) effort in the second half and a 53.3% (24-45) field goal percentage in the game. The Thunder shot a season-high 63.2% (12-19) from three-point range and 70% (14-20) at the free throw line. Calvin out-rebounded Wheaton 32-30 with a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. Calvin out-scored the Thunder 34-18 in the paint tonight.
Calvin College vs Wheaton College 3/3/05 7:00 PM at 1st Rd. NCAA-III MBB Tourney-Wheaton, IL At 1st Rd. NCAA-III MBB Tourney-Wheaton, IL CALVIN COLLEGE 75, WHEATON COLLEGE 74 CALVIN COLLEGE (23-6) Joel Hoekstra 8-14 4-4 20; Dan Aultman 7-12 2-2 16; Ricky Shilts 5-9 0-0 11; Brad Sall 3-5 2-2 10; Andy Draayer 3-8 0-0 8; Josh Meckes 2-4 2-4 6; Brian Roelofs 1-2 0-0 2; Kyle Trewhella 1-9 0-0 2; Josh Vriesman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-64 10-12 75. WHEATON COLLEGE (20-6) Steven, Jonathan 9-16 5-5 27; Raymond, Kent 8-11 3-4 24; Fortosis, Jim 3-4 3-6 9; Nielson, Jon 2-6 1-2 7; Trimiew, Martin 1-6 2-3 4; Lettinga, Andrew 1-1 0-0 3; Bollier, Tony 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-45 14-20 74. Calvin College................ 31 44 - 75 Wheaton College............... 41 33 - 74 3-point goals-Calvin College 5-19 (Andy Draayer 2-5; Brad Sall 2-4; Ricky Shilts 1-4; Kyle Trewhella 0-3; Josh Vriesman 0-1; Dan Aultman 0-1; Joel Hoekstra 0-1), Wheaton College 12-19 (Raymond, Kent 5-8; Steven, Jonathan 4-6; Nielson, Jon 2-4; Lettinga, Andrew 1-1). Fouled out--Calvin College-None, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-Calvin College 32 (Josh Meckes 11), Wheaton College 30 (Trimiew, Martin 7). Assists-Calvin College 17 (Ricky Shilts 4; Kyle Trewhella 4), Wheaton College 15 (Fortosis, Jim 5). Total fouls-Calvin College 19, Wheaton College 14.