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Coverage of the men's Final Four

2000 sectional finals game stories

With McMurry's full-court pressure rendered ineffective, number-one ranked Calvin cruised to a 115-79 victory over the fourth-ranked Indians (27-2) in the sectional finals Saturday night, allowing the Knights to earn their first NCAA III Final Four berth since 1992 and the third in school-history.

Calvin will face No. 19 Franklin and Marshall of Pennsylvania (25-5) in a national semifinal game next Friday at 8:00 pm in Salem, Virginia. No. 15 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (26-6) will face No. 21 Salem State (26-4) in Friday's first semifinal game at 6:00 pm. Friday's winners will meet in the national championship game Saturday at 5:00 pm with Friday's losers playing in the consolation finals at 2:30 pm. In its two previous trips to the NCAA III Final Four, Calvin has finished fourth (1990) and won the national championship (1992).

Calvin's victory against McMurry Saturday night allowed the Knights to extend their winning streak to 20 games. The 115 points scored by the Knights was also the sixth-highest single-game scoring total in Calvin men's basketball history.

Winkle finished the evening with a game-high 30 points, allowing him to boost his career scoring total to 1,769 points and move past Chris Knoester and into fourth place on the all-time Calvin scoring list. Winkle was 9-of-13 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range, 8-of-10 from the line and grabbed nine rebounds. Veenstra finished the evening one assist short of a triple-double as he came with a career-high 14 rebounds along with 12 points and nine assists. Veenstra dished out six of his nine assists in the first half, allowing the Knights to find holes in the McMurry press.

McMurry held the early advantage however as the Indians took a 22-13 lead on a three-pointer by senior Daniel Martinez at the 13:20 mark of the first half. Calvin battled back with a 16-5 run to grab a 29-27 lead with 9:12 left. McMurry came back to tie the game at 29-29 at 31-31 but would never again retake the lead. With Calvin holding a 50-44 lead with 3:13 left in the half, Veenstra came up with a play that rocked the Calvin Fieldhouse crowd of 4,500 fans as he collected a missed three-point shot by junior Jason DeKuiper in mid-air and rammed in a two-handed tip-slam. Veenstra's spectacular dunk ignited a 14-0 Calvin scoring run to end the half capped off by a three-point shot from the left-wing by DeKuiper at the buzzer, giving the Knights a 64-44 halftime lead with the crowd screaming at an ear-splitting level.

The dunk by Veenstra was one of four slams for the Knights on the evening.

Calvin opened the second half with 12-7 scoring run to help put the game away as McMurry would get no closer than 21 points the remainder of the contest.

Veenstra was one of two freshmen to sparkle for the Knights Saturday as freshman point guard Bryan Foltice poured in a career-high 21 points, connecting on 8-of-10 field goal attempts and 4-of-5 attempts from three-point range while turning the ball over just three times in 27 minutes of action against the McMurry pressure. Foltice was one of six Calvin players to reach double figures in scoring as junior Brian Krosschell was superb all evening, racking up 18 points and nine rebounds while blocking a pair of shots. Senior Nate Karsten added 11 points and three assists while junior Josh Tubergen collected 10 points including a pair of slam dunks.

As a team, Calvin shot a season-high 62.5% from the floor including a sizzling 65.5% clip in the second half. Calvin also outrebounded McMurry 49-33.

McMurry was led by Travis Hull who pumped in 18 points while Anthony James had 16 and Alex Denson 11. Senior point guard Daniel Martinez added 7 points, five assists and a game-high 10 steals, allowing him to finish the season with 178 steals, setting a Division III single-season record in the process.

Calvin is now 8-1 in NCAA Division III Tournament games played at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

UW-Eau Claire 60, UW-Stevens Point 58
STORM LAKE, Iowa -- Sherm Carstensen's last-second three-point shot gave the UW-Eau Claire men's basketball team a 60-58 win against UW-Stevens Point in the NCAA Division III West sectional championship game at Buena Vista on Saturday and a berth in the Final Four in Salem, Va., March 17-18.

Stevens Point's Joe Zuiker had put the Pointers ahead 58-57 with 2.5 seconds left. The Blugolds called a timeout after which Dave Mellenthin threw a baseball pass ahead to Eric Gardow who tipped it to Carstensen who swished a shot from beyond the top of the arc for the victory. The Blugolds overcame a 18-point deficit as Stevens Point came out of a one-point halftime lead (28-27) to score on seven consecutive three-point plays which included five treys and two traditional threes.

The Pointers led 49-31 near the 12:30 mark of the second half. The Blugolds final caught Point at 54-54 on a Carstensen trey with 1:06 remaining. Point's Brant Bailey scored at 0:35 for a 56-54 lead but Matt Fermanich nailed a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to put the Blugolds back up by one.

The Blugolds were playing without their 6-8 All-American candidate, senior Jon Wallenfelsz, who suffered a possible ACL injury in a semifinal victory over host and top-ranked Buena Vista on Friday. Carstensen led the Blugolds with 22 points while junior point guard Matt Fermanich scored a career-high 20. Bailey led Stevens Point with 24 while Brent Larson added 12. The Blugolds are now 26-5 for the season after winning four straight NCAA tournament games

This is the Blugolds' first-ever NCAA appearance and first postseason appearance since the 1992 season when they played in the NAIA tournament in Kansas City as an at-large team. The Blugolds split their four games with Point this year as the Pointers finished with a 25-5 record.

The Blugolds will face Salem State, a 75-69 winner against Penn State-Behrend, in the national tournament semifinal game.

Franklin & Marshall 85, Catholic 74
WAYNE, N.J. -- The higher one climbs before falling, the greater the pain and disappointment.

No. 10 Catholic University, after ascending to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history Friday, lost its footing in an 85-74 loss to Franklin & Marshall at William Paterson University’s Rec Center on Saturday night.

The No. 19 Diplomats’ 15th consecutive victory launches them to their fourth NCAA Division III Final Four and the third in 10 years. F&M improves to 25-5 and will play No. 1 Calvin (28-2) in Salem, Va., on March 17 at 8 p.m. No. 15 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (26-6) faces No. 21 Salem State (26-4) at 6 p.m.

Senior Dan Harrington led the Cardinals (24-5) with 21 points and five assists. Junior Pat Maloney scored 17 points and classmate Tim Judge added 12. Catholic advanced with a 57-52 win against host William Paterson one night earlier. But that triumph seemed like ancient history in the Cardinals’ locker room as tears salted one of their finest seasons.

"To be one game away from the Final Four, it’s disappointing," said Catholic Coach Mike Lonergan, whose Cardinals were the only team in the nation making their third consecutive appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. "This opportunity might never come again. I think it just wasn’t meant to be."

F&M, trailing 49-45 with 12:02 to play, scored on 16 of its final 17 possessions and finished 15 of 24 (62.5%) from the field in the second half.

"That’s extreme, even for this team," 29-year Diplomat Coach Glenn Robinson said. "I still feel that late in the game, they get very efficient offensively. They get very focused on what they’re doing."

Sophomore Alex Kraft blazed the path for F&M with 12 points in the final five minutes to finish with 21 points, a game-high seven rebounds and five assists. Mark Sadowski, who entered the game averaging 4.6 points, scored 19 points and fellow senior Mike Ritacco 15.

The opening 20 minutes were physical and included 24 fouls, one technical foul and two injured players. F&M played the final six minutes of the first half with four players on the bench with two fouls (Cas Thomas, Ritacco, Maiatico and Grant Sporny). Catholic took one starter off the court with blood dripping from his chin (Judge) another with an injured ankle (Mike Lepeonka) and (Kurt Zeisler) missed the last 10 minutes with three personal fouls.

The Diplomats found themselves trailing 16-5 five minutes into the game, then went on a 23-4 run for a 28-20 lead with 5:51 before the break. F&M hit six of its first eight three-point attempts to spark the offense in the middle 10 minutes of the period.

The Cardinals had suffered a major blow 41 seconds earlier when 6-foot-8 Lepeonka sustained a badly sprained right ankle. He watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.

"Most painful thing I ever had to do," said Lepeonka, who hit both of his shots, including a three-pointer, and blocked two shots. "I tried to cheer the guys on from the bench, but it wasn’t enough. If this was going to be my last game, I didn’t want it to end on the bench."

Salem State 75, Penn State-Behrend 69
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Salem St. broke a 64-64 tie by going on an 11-5 run over the final three minutes en route to a 75-69 victory over Penn State-Behrend in the championship game of the NCAA Division III East /Northeast Sectional before 201 spectators at Corey Gymnasium.

The Vikings (26-4) of Beverly, Mass., advance to the Division III "Final Four" for the first time in school history the weekend of March 17-18 at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. Salem State will face Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a 60-58 winner against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, in the first semifinal game on Friday at 6 p.m. Penn State-Behrend finishes the season at 26-4.

Senior guard Tishaun Jenkins was one of three players in double figures for Salem State, scoring 22 points to go along with five assists, both team highs. Sophomore guard Jeremy Jones followed with 13 points, hitting 3 of 4 three-pointers and junior forward Eric McCoy had 12 points with a game-high eight rebounds.

The first half ended in a 45-45 tie as both teams put on a shooting clinic without calling a timeout. The Behrend Lions shot 58.3 precent from the floor, including 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from three-point range. Salem St. finished the half shooting 66.7 percent from the floor and the arc (6-of-9 three-pointers).

Penn State-Behrend (26-4) held a 64-62 lead with five minutes remaining on a jumper by senior forward Andy Lawrence. The Vikings tied the game on a pair of free throws from McCoy before taking the lead for good on a three-pointer from Jones with 3:15 to play. A layup from senior center Chris Hughes pulled the Behrend Lions to within a point at 67-66 with 1:51 to play, but Salem St. pushed the lead back to three on sophomore John Bennett's two free throws with 1:14 remaining.

Penn State-Behrend closed to within a point on a short running jumper by Lawrence with 28 seconds to play, but Salem State closed out the game on a 6-1 run as Jenkins made 4-of-6 free throws and Jones made a layup with one second left on the clock. Within the run, the Behrend Lions trailed 71-69 with 14 seconds remaining and had a chance to set up a potential tying or game winning play after Salem St. missed two free throws, but the Vikings got the rebound to keep possession.

Hughes led Penn State-Behrend scorers with a game high 25 points, hitting 11-of-15 shots from the floor. Sophomore guard Matt Keith followed with 15 points, making 5-of-10 three-pointers, and Lawrence finished with 10 points, making 6-of-8 free throws.

SALEM STATE (26-4): Ed Bourgogne 3-5 2-2 8, Peter Szklarz 2-8 0-0 6, Gus White 3-6 0-0 6, Tishaun Jenkins 6-11 8-14 22, Jeremy Jones 5-7 0-0 13, John Bennett 1-5 2-2 4, Danny White 0-0 0-0 0, Eric McCoy 5-10 2-2 12, Dorian Bryant 2-2 0-2 4 TOTALS 27-54 14-22 75

Penn State-Behrend (26-4): Andy Lawrence 2-5 6-8 10, John Park 3-6 0-0 9, Chris Hughes 11-15 3-6 25, Ashley Orris 1-2 0-0 3, Matt Keith 5-11 0-0 15, Bill McKinney 0-1 0-0 0, Andy Berchtold 0-2 3-4 3, Nate Willson 2-2 0-0 4 TOTALS 24-44 12-18 69

Halftime -- Salem St. 45, Penn State-Behrend 45. 3-point goals -- Salem St. 7-16 (Jones 3-4, Jenkins 2-3, Szklarz 2-6, Bennet 0-3); Penn State-Behrend 9-19 (Keith 5-10, Park 3-5, Orris 1-1, Hughes 0-1, Lawrence 0-2. Fouled out -- Bourgogne. Rebounds -- Salem St. 33 (McCoy 8), Penn State-Behrend 18 (Orris, Willson 3). Assists -- Salem St. 17 (Jenkins 5), Penn State-Behrend 14 (Orris 5). Turnovers -- Salem St. 12, Penn State-Behrend 10. Steals -- Salem St. 7, Penn State-Behrend 6. Total fouls -- Salem St. 15, Penn St. Behrend 17. A -- 201.

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