Albion trailed by four, 79-75, with eight seconds remaining after two free throws by John Carroll’s Peter Koch. A Thomas layup with 3.6 seconds remaining cut the deficit to two. After the Blue Streaks missed two free throws, senior forward Travis DePree grabbed the rebound, threw the ball to Thomas just past halfcourt, and then the guard weaved between two defenders and hung in the air before releasing the ball just before the final buzzer.
The shot appeared too strong, but Thomas got a soft bounce off the backboard and a favorable bounce off the rim.
“I was thinking it was going to be too long,” said Thomas, who got the game ball. “This is a dream come true. All I wanted was to make it in the tournament and see how far we can go.”
Thomas said that before practices he often attempts similar off-balance shots in case the situation presents itself in a game. That practice may have kept his college career alive.
“There was a chance, and I took it and it happened,” DePree said of the final play. “We never quit believing it could happen.”
Albion head coach Mike Turner ranked the game among his top two moments in his 31 years of coaching the Britons. His other moment was when Albion hit a shot with five seconds remaining in 1978 that sent the Britons to their only NCAA national semifinal appearance.
Turner said that he will appreciate this moment more because of the guys that were involved and he because he’s a veteran coach of 31 years now.
“The two guys who believe the most are Mike and Travis,” Turner said. “Those two guys believe and those two guys carry the team in many ways, not just their play.”
Albion will play Calvin College in the sectional final Saturday. Calvin defeated Mississippi College, 75-60, in the day’s first sectional semifinal.
The game will be the fourth meeting between the two Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association foes. Albion won the two regular season meetings, but Calvin got the last laugh by beating the Britons in the MIAA tournament championship game.
All three games have been decided by a total of nine points.
“We can’t enjoy this for too long,” DePree said. “We got to get refocused and get ready for tomorrow.”
It will be hard to match the final minute of this game.
Albion, which had led since trailing 2-0, was ahead 74-67 with 1:15 remaining after sophomore guard Zak Silas hit two free throws. However, four turnovers, a bad decision to take a shot early in the shot clock and a missed free throw almost doomed the Britons.
John Carroll cut the Albion deficit to four points six times in the second half. Every time Albion responded except for the last time. Trailing 75-71 with 29 seconds remaining, the Blue Streaks forced a turnover and then Koch knocked down a three-pointer with 24 seconds left.
Albion’s following inbounds pass went off Thomas’ hands. John Carroll then got a break when a deflected pass went right into the hands of Brandon Mimes, who converted a layup and was fouled. His free throw made the score 77-75.
Albion appeared to be heading down the floor for a tying layup, but DePree’s bounce pass was deflected — it appeared to go off the foot of a Blue Streak — and John Carroll came up with the loose ball.
Albion was extremely frustrated, especially Thomas, but Turner was able to calm his players.
“I definitely was frustrated,” Thomas said. “Coach kind of calmed me down and got my head cleared.”
According to Turner, “If these guys had seen me with something in the middle of my stomach and seen me going, ‘Oh, we can’t get this done,’ then they’ve got no chance. I had to show that we can still win this game.”
Albion was led by Thomas who had 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting. It was his highest scoring output since he scored 33 Dec. 8 versus Manchester College (Ind.) and it boosted him into second place on Albion’s all-time scoring list with 1,377 points.
Junior forward Brandon Crawford posted his 12th double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and DePree had his 10th double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. Silas added 10, including eight in the first half on 3-of-3 shooting.
John Carroll was led by Mimes’ 22 points. Andrew Salata added 20 and Michael Grogan put in 11.
Just like Albion’s second-round game against Wooster College (Ohio) the Britons led by 13 points at the half. And just like that contest Albion’s opponent came out of the locker room roaring.
The Blue Streaks scored the first five points of the half to cut the Albion lead to 44-36, and they got within four for the first time since the 8:14 mark in the first half when two free throws by Salata with 14:34 remaining made the score 48-44.
However, Albion responded behind a three-pointer and two free throws by junior guard Mike Bailey to take a 53-44 lead. This was a theme the entire second half. The Blue Streaks cut the Albion lead to four points four more times, only to see the Britons respond. John Carroll didn’t break the streak until Koch’s three-pointer in the final half minute.
The Blue Streaks got back into the game in the second half by shooting 51.4 percent from the field and taking 13 more shots than the Britons. This was due to 16 second-half Albion turnovers after it gave up the ball just seven times in the first half. The Blue Streaks entered the contest forcing 20.1 turnovers per game, and they showed why in the second half. The 16 Albion giveaways translated into 15 points for John Carroll.
The Blue Streaks’ came out pressing for most of the second period, and it got to the Britons.
“That was the real problem, the press,” Crawford said.
For the game Albion shot 51.9 percent, just above its season average of 50.3 percent, and John Carroll shot 45.8 percent.
Despite a size advantage for the Britons, the Blue Streaks outrebounded them 36-34 and outscored them in the paint, 48-30.
Albion trailed for just 22 seconds in the first half when Mimes opened the game’s scoring. The Britons used an 11-2 spurt to grab an 11-4 lead with 15:29 left in the half. Crawford quickly established himself, scoring Albion’s first five points on a pair of strong post moves and a free throw. Thomas contributed four points to Albion’s opening run.
The Albion lead swayed between four and eight points until baskets by Silas and Crawford gave the Britons a 10-poiunt advantage, 33-23, with 3:37 left. Albion extended the lead to 12 with 2:26 to play in the half on two free throws by Crawford and Silas appeared to give the Britons momentum heading into halftime by completing his perfect first-half shooting with a three with 21 seconds left to make the halftime score 44-31.
Albion used great execution in the first half to grab the double-digit halftime advantage. The Britons shot 57.1 percent from the field and got seven layups, five of them in transition. The Britons pushed the ball whenever they got the chance, scoring 10 fastbreak points to just two for the Blue Streaks. Albion also converted seven John Carroll turnovers into 11 points.
“They shot the ball real well and made open shots,” said John Carroll head coach Mike Moran of Albion’s first half performance.
Thomas scored 15 in the half while Crawford added 12 and Silas put in eight. Mimes scored 10 of his points in the first period.
John Carroll ended the season 24-6. Albion improved to 26-3.
Game time for the sectional final, to be held at Kresge Gymnasium, is 7:00 p.m.
JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY (24-6) Brandon Mimes 9-14 4-8 22; Andrew Salata 9-14 2-2 20; Michael Grogan 4-10 1-5 11; Peter Koch 2-8 2-2 7; Demetrius Travis 3-9 0-0 6; Pete Moran 2-4 0-0 4; Chris Day 2-5 0-0 4; John Curran 1-4 0-0 3; Kyle Roggenburk 1-3 0-2 2; Joe Kimener 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-72 9-19 79. ALBION COLLEGE (26-3) Mike Thomas 7-11 7-8 23; Brandon Crawford 8-13 5-7 21; Travis DePree 6-8 3-6 16; Zak Silas 3-5 2-2 10; Mike Bailey 2-4 1-2 6; Garrett Gibbons 1-5 2-2 4; Brian Champine 0-2 0-0 0; Evan Way 0-0 0-0 0; Rick Palmer 0-0 0-0 0; Lonny Fulse 0-4 0-2 0. Totals 27-52 20-29 80. John Carroll University....... 31 48 - 79 Albion College................ 44 36 - 80 3-point goals-John Carroll University 4-15 (Michael Grogan 2-5; Peter Koch 1-5; John Curran 1-2; Pete Moran 0-1; Brandon Mimes 0-2), Albion College 6-14 (Zak Silas 2-3; Mike Thomas 2-3; Travis DePree 1-1; Mike Bailey 1-3; Lonny Fulse 0-2; Garrett Gibbons 0-2). Fouled out--John Carroll University-Pete Moran, Albion College-None. Rebounds-John Carroll University 36 (Andrew Salata 7), Albion College 34 (Travis DePree 11; Brandon Crawford 11). Assists-John Carroll University 14 (Chris Day 5), Albion College 18 (Mike Thomas 5; Travis DePree 5). Total fouls-John Carroll University 21, Albion College 17. A-1453