Bracket Buster: D3 March Madness Is Heating Up As Calvin Upsets JCU

A close finish but a comeback for the Blue Streaks. But it’s hard to win when you shoot only 27% from the field.

The #10 Calvin Knights men’s basketball team picked up the win on Saturday in a 71-66 nailbiter against the #2 John Carroll Blue Streaks. John Carroll was 26-2 entering the contest, while Calvin was 23-4 coming in. Earlier in the tournament, John Carroll beat SUNY New Paltz 85-81, and Calvin beat Elmhurst 93-78.

The Blue Streaks struggled shooting, only 20/73. 27.4% from the field is not going to win games. Luke Chicone was the only player doing anything for the Streaks. He posted a game-high 22 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. Chicone also played all 40 minutes in the game. Luke Fraiser struggled shooting for the second night in a row. He went 3/17 but was able to put up 14 points and 5 rebounds. Will Yontek had 12 points and 7 rebounds to help out JCU.

The Knights star center Jalen Overway, towering over everyone at 6’10” had 20 points and 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. He went 7/14 shooting, including 1/3 from three, and 5/6 for free throws, all of which he stands on the line for, I can confirm because I went in line with the free-throw line and crouched down to see. Marcus Bult added 20 more points and 8 rebounds, and Uchenna Egekeze (good thing I didn’t have to say his name when I interviewed him) put up 15 more points, including the dagger free throws at the end.

Calvin struck first with a 2, but Luke Fraiser came back with a three. They kept that lead for 25 seconds, the only 25 seconds of leading in the game for Carroll. After that, Calvin went on a 12-0 run including 3 threes from Marcus Bult who had 10 of the 12 points. Midway through the first half, JCU was shooting an ugly 17% until back-to-back baskets by Luka Eller and Will Yontek to ignite the home crowd. but they cooled down, trailing 31-24 after halftime. John Carroll shot under 25% (24.24%) in that half.

Luke Fraiser opened the second half with a three, but Calvin got the ball inside to the 6’10” big man to score 6 of the Knights first 11 second-half points. JCU started to close the gap to single digits, but the crowd finally got back into it when Chicone hit back-to-back threes, cutting the deficit to one possession.

Down the stretch, every basket by John Carroll was answered by a pair of free throws. Ultimately, the Calvin Knights won 71-66 to end the John Carrol Blue Streak season at home (DeCarlo Varsity Center).

There were many turnovers in the game, Calvin had 18 turnovers, and Carroll had 8. Calvin won the battle on the boards 46-39.

JCU’s 26-3 record was tied for second-most wins in a season in program history. They have made the NCAA Tournament 2 straight years and won the OAC this year in OT vs Mount Union.

Next up for the Calvin Knights is a game against Randolph-Macon for a chance at the Elite Eight.

After the game, I got to interview 5 of Calvin’s players on how they felt about making it to the Sweet 16. I started with Uchenna Egekeze, and after celebrating with someone, he said ”It’s a great feeling I can’t lie. We knew the battle we had, John Carroll is a great team, great players, but I mean we just believed in each other, and just glad we got the win.”

Next was the lethal big man Jalen Overway who kept it short, unlike his height. He responded, “It feels really good, this is our first tournament- well my first tournament so it feels really good.”

Next up was number 12 Jordan Scott. He said “You know, I feel great, this is my first year, I love this team. I don’t know, hopefully we can go further.”

Up fourth was Trip Riemersma, number 14. He was very excited, he said “It’s pretty cool you know, I’m from a Division II transfer, never had the chance to do the Sweet 16 or NCAA Tournament so it’s pretty cool. We’re gonna go win it all” So in the event of Calvin not winning and me getting mad at them for some reason, I can hold this against them.

Last but not least was Daane Harvey. He gave credit to the team, saying “Overall, it was a great team experience, I thought number 4 Jalen Overway played well, and I thought as a team we played hard, played gritty. That’s been our mantra all year. So, we’re looking forward to it but we got another week of preppin’ and we’re gonna get ready to go.