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About the 2005 Division III
men's basketball tournament

Albion sectional game notes

The games: Mississippi College (24-4) vs. No. 14 Calvin (24-6), 6 p.m. ET; No. 15 John Carroll (24-5) at No. 9 Albion (25-3), 8 p.m. ET; winners meet Saturday at 7 p.m. ET

Location: Kresge Gymnasium, Albion College, Albion, Mich.

On the air: Albion, Calvin and John Carroll each have local broadcasts. Check NCAASports.com for links.

Albion is 12-2 in home games this season. The only blemishes to Albion’s home record were a 68-59 setback to Hope College on Feb. 5, and a 63-59 loss to Calvin in the MIAA Tournament championship game two Saturdays ago.

Calvin is 49-32 (.605) in road or neutral site games over the last three years including 15-5 this season. Conversely, the Knights are 65-9 (.878) at home over the last five years.

Mississippi College has not had the same kind of success on the road this year as it has had at home in A.E. Wood Coliseum. Three of the Choctaws' losses have come on the road. With an 8-3 record on the road, MC dropped two early-season road games at McMurry (66-72) and Sul Ross State (59-64) and added a loss at East Texas Baptist (79-80) late in the year in overtime.

The Britons have outscored their opponents by 135 points at home this season for an average margin of plus-9.6. Albion is shooting nearly 50% from the field (407 of 807), 38.5% from three-point range (90 of 234), and 69.5% from the free-throw line (210 of 302). Albion has also enjoyed a plus-7.1 margin in rebounding at Kresge this season.

Albion and John Carroll are meeting for the fifth time. The schools enter tonight’s game with two wins apiece. The first meeting was played Jan. 3, 1927, at Cleveland’s Public Hall as the first half of a doubleheader that featured Wisconsin and Syracuse. Albion posted a 30-29 victory in that game, and the schools did not meet again on the hardwood until Nov. 23, 1991. In the title game of the Albion College Classic, the Blue Streaks scored with seven seconds remaining in regulation to eke out a 63- 62 victory.

Albion earned a measure of revenge in the championship game of the 1994 Albion College-Marshall Optimist Tournament, gaining an 80-70 victory despite the presence of current Buffalo Bills starting middle linebacker London Fletcher on JCU’s squad. JCU won the last meeting, 72-50, in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The Blue Streaks went on to advance to the sectional final.

This is the first-ever meeting between Calvin and Mississippi College. It does mark the second meeting between Calvin and an opponent from the American Southwest Conference as the Knights hosted McMurry in a national quarterfinal game in 2000 and defeated McMurry 115-79 at the Calvin Fieldhouse. Like McMurry, Mississippi College is a member of the American Southwest Conference.

Against the other three teams in the sectional, John Carroll is 2-2 all-time against Albion, 1-1 all-time against Calvin and 2-0 all-time against Mississippi College. However, in NCAA tournament play, John Carroll is a perfect 1-0 against all three. The Blue Streaks defeated Albion (72-50) in the 1998 NCAA tournament, Mississippi College (78-57) in the 1999 tourney, and Calvin (88-77) in 2004.

Calvin is making its sixth appearance in the Sweet 16 of the Division III NCAA Tournament including its first since the 1999-2000 season. Calvin is 5-0 in national semi-quarterfinal games.

The Choctaws are making their seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years after missing the tournament last season. They are making their second appearance in the round of sixteen. They were beaten by John Carroll in the round of sixteen in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

Over his last six games, Calvin senior Dan Aultman is averaging 18.3 points and 6.8 rebounds a game while connecting on 72.0 (54 of 75) percent of his field goal attempts.

Calvin has gone with two different starting lineups this year, starting one lineup in 23 games and the other in the remaining seven. The most common starting lineup has been sophomore Josh Meckes, junior Joel Hoekstra and senior Dan Aultman on the front line with senior Ricky Shilts and junior Kyle Trewhella in the backcourt. With Trehwella recently sidelined for three games, the Knights moved senior Brad Sall into Trewhella’s shooting guard spot. Trewhella then moved back into the starting lineup at the shooting guard slot in a first round MIAA Tournament victory over Kalamazoo.

Eleven Mississippi College players are averaging ten or more minutes this year. Two of the top three scorers start the game on the bench as well as two of the three leading rebounders. Twelve players scored in the second round win over Maryville.

Over the last two years, Calvin is 65-19 (.773) when it connects on six or more three-point field goals in a game. Calvin has connected on at least seven trifectas in 23 of its 30 games this year.

The only returners for Mississippi College from last season to receive extended playing time were senior Jason Walker and sophomore Jaszmine Eugene. Walker stepped into the starting lineup after playing as the “sixth man” last year and had one of the best seasons of any ASC point guard. He led the team with 98 assists. Walker was an All-ASC Honorable Mention selection. He had plenty of help as the coaching staff mixed in ten junior college transfers and one true freshman into the playing rotation. True freshman forward Tyler Winford has started from day one and was named the ASC East Division Freshman of the Year after leading the team in scoring. He scored a team-high 17 points against Maryville in the second round win including 13 points in the first nine minutes of the second half.

Notes are assembled by D3hoops.com from releases sent by the participating schools.