TERRE HAUTE —
For a coach whose college basketball teams are built on the most traditional of concepts — defense, good shots, taking care of the basketball, things like that — Rose-Hulman’s Jim Shaw isn’t afraid to espouse non-traditional ideas once in a while.
Two of his against-the-grain precepts were put to the test Saturday night and the Engineers passed with flying colors, finishing the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship game on a 7-2 run for a 64-59 win over Hanover in Hulbert Arena.
The Engineers will learn shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday where — or if — they will have to travel for the first round of NCAA Division III tournament play. A link to the NCAA pairings show will be available sometime Monday on the Rose-Hulman athletics website.
Saturday’s win over the Panthers was the third this season by the Engineers; unlike most coaches, Shaw says a third win against an opponent should be easier to get and this one was — relatively speaking.
The other two were a one-pointer at the buzzer and a two-point road win that earned Rose-Hulman the regular-season championship and hosting duties for the postseason tournament.
Which brings us to Shaw’s other less-than-conventional view, although in this case the Rose-Hulman coach got to have his cake and eat it too.
“It’s a combination of joy and relief,” Shaw said as his team danced and prepared to cut down the nets. “We had such a great year … everybody, wrongfully, focuses on the NCAAs, but a league championship is hard to win and it’s done over a long haul.
“I didn’t want this team not to play in the NCAA tourney,” he concluded. “I’m extremely proud and privileged to be with this group of guys.”
The Engineers got contributions from virtually every member of their group Saturday, both offensively and defensively, and down the stretch it was one of that group’s least-heralded members who took the game over.
After falling behind 12-2 in the first eight minutes, Rose gradually worked its way back into the contest. Nine consecutive Engineer points gave the home team a 29-26 lead late in the first half, but Hanover rallied to take a 34-31 lead at the break.
A 6-0 Rose-Hulman run for a 44-42 lead early in the second half was matched by the Panthers, who got back-to-back steals by Drake Hendricks and an unexpected shot-clock-beating jumper from Desmond Marks for a 48-44 advantage.
Austin Weatherford hit a 3-pointer for the Engineers, but Marks scored inside to keep the visitors up 50-47. Then Brenton Balsbaugh took over.
His three-point play with 5:58 tied the score, wiping out what would turn out to be Hanover’s last lead. On the Panthers’ next possession, Balsbaugh got two blocks on quicksilver point guard Tim Bass within a few seconds of each other to preserve the tie.
“He’s fast,” Balsbaugh said of Bass afterward. “I just tried to be there to help. Austin [Weatherford] did a good job funneling [Bass] to where I was.”
Rose took the lead with 5:07 left on a 3-pointer by Julian Strickland, then padded it to 55-50 with about three minutes left when Balsbaugh took Strickland’s pass and made a layup. Hanover tied the game one more time, at 57-57 on a 3-pointer by Brian Gunter with 1:17 to play, but Jon Gerken got an offensive rebound and assisted on a Strickland basket for the final tie-breaker and Weatherford, Strickland and Gerken hit five free throws in the last 33 seconds.
Balsbaugh, who had a season-high 17 points for the second night in a row, was named tournament MVP.
“He was a little hurt at the end of the year,” Shaw said of his senior center, “but he got healthy last week. He was tremendous last night [in an 81-59 win over Defiance] and in the second half tonight — finishing, rebounding and defending.
“We’re a different team when we get interior play like that, and thanks to him we were able to withstand a spotty shooting performance,” Shaw added. “But the mark of a good team is it’s always somebody.”
Strickland added 13 points, Weatherford 12 and Gerken 10 for the Engineers. Strickland had nine rebounds and four assists, while Gerken and Weatherford had five assists each.
Bass had 12 points and Ryan Nowicki 10 for Hanover.
“I’m pretty excited,” Balsbaugh said after the game. “We were regular-season winners and we brought [a championship] home here too.
“We set some goals at the beginning [of the season], and [winning the conference tournament] was one of them,” he added. “Winning 20 games, winning the regular season, this was the next [goal].”
Any more goals, he was asked.
“At least another one,” Balsbaugh answered with a smile.
HANOVER (59) — Nowicki 5-9 0-0 10, Gunter 3-6 0-0 7, Marks 4-7 1-3 9, Bass 4-12 4-4 12, Hendricks 2-6 0-0 4, James 2-5 0-0 6, Wehner 2-3 0-0 6, Bingham 0-2 0-0 0, Van Kleunen 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 24-52 FG, 6-9 FT, 59 TP.
ROSE-HULMAN (64) — Strickland 4-16 4-4 13, Gerken 3-6 3-4 10, Balsbaugh 7-9 3-3 17, Weatherford 3-8 4-5 12, Pillischafske 0-1 0-0 0, Houpt 1-3 0-0 2, Gissentanner 3-6 0-0 8, Martin 0-0 0-1 0, Dodd 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-50 FG, 14-17 FT, 64 TP.
Halftime — Hanover 34-31. 3-point shooting — Hanover 5-17 (James 2-3, Wehner 2-3, Gunter 1-2, Bingham 0-1, Nowicki 0-2, Bass 0-3, Hendricks 0-3), RH 6-14 (Weatherford 2-3, Gissentanner 2-3, Gerken 1-1, Strickland 1-6, Pillischafske 0-1). Total fouls — Hanover 18, RH 12. Fouled out — none. Turnovers — Hanover 9, RH 10. Rebounds — Hanover 26 (Gunter 8, Marks 6), RH 33 (Strickland 9, Gerken 6, Weatherford 5, Gissentanner 5, Balsbaugh 4, Martin, team 3). Assists — Hanover 11 (Gunter 4), RH 19 (Gerken 5, Weatherford 5, Strickland 4, Gissentanner 3, Martin 2). Steals — Hanover 8 (Hendricks 3), RH 7 (Strickland 2, Gerken, Balsbaugh, Weatherford, Martin, Dodd). Blocks — Hanover 4 (Gunter, Marks, Hendricks, Wehner), RH 4 (Balsbaugh 3, Gissentanner). Att — 1,000.
Next — Rose-Hulman (24-3) will play next Saturday in the NCAA Division III tournament, opponent and site to be announced Monday. Hanover (18-9) has probably concluded its season.
Rose-Hulman
Related Photos
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Score: Rose-Hulman's #51 Brenton Balsbaugh scores late in the second half against Hanover's #45 Brian Gunter.
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Driven: Rose-Hulman's #15 Austin Weatherford drives the ball to the hoop against Hanover defender #32 Matt Wehner during game action Saturday.
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Crucial: Rose-Hulman's #15 Austin Weatherford drops a free throw with just seconds remaining in the game against Hanover College Saturday evening during the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship game.
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Dump: Rose-Hulman's #33 Nate Gissentanner drives and dumps the ball to an open teammate during game action Saturday.
Discussion
NCAA Bound: Rose-Hulman wins second straight HCAC tourney title
- Rose-Hulman
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Rose-Hulman swimmers flying to nationals
Rose-Hulman swimmers John Craig Huster and Orion Martin have qualified for the Division III national meet in the 100 butterfly
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Despite four NCAA Division III titles, Rose-Hulman’s Liz Evans remains as driven as ever
Even though Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans has won four NCAA Division III titles in the women’s high jump, getting motivated is still easy for her.
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Balsbaugh’s late-season scoring giving Rose-Hulman a lift
If someone were to predict before last weekend that Rose-Hulman would capture its second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in men’s basketball and that senior Brenton Balsbaugh would be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, fans probably would believe the first statement but consider the second as wishful thinking.
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Rose-Hulman baseball team kicking off season in Florida
Jeff Jenkins is serious about his baseball.
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Rose-Hulman men clinch conference title
Rose-Hulman will host the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament and claimed the league’s regular-season title with a 59-57 win at Hanover College on Saturday.
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No. 23 Rose-Hulman takes down No. 22 Transylvania on the road
No. 23 ranked Rose-Hulman claimed a two-game lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball standings with a 54-49 victory at No. 22 Transylvania University on Saturday.
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Rose-Hulman opened the second half on a 20-3 run to pull away and earn a convincing 71-40 men’s basketball victory at Anderson University on Wednesday night.
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Freshman paces Engineer women to HCAC win
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team improved to 10-10 for the season and 6-7 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 52-44 win over Anderson on Wednesday in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose men top Franklin
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Rose men run winning steak to 11 games
Anderson arrived in Terre Haute with a 7-6 record and a scoring average of 76.5 points per game.
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Anderson holds off rally by Rose women
Rose-Hulman rallied from an 11-point deficit to close within three points late, but Anderson University held on to earn a 64-57 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
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Rose-Hulman men ranked 26th in Division III
Rose-Hulman’s men’s basketball team is ranked 26th nationally in the d3hoops.com national weekly poll released on Thursday.
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Gerken hits game-winner to put Rose-Hulman at 9-1 on season
Making the game-winning shot, with what turned out to be seven-tenths of a second to go, was probably the easy part for Jon Gerken on Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose women struggle from field in loss to Hanover
In the Rose-Hulman women’s college basketball game, frigid shooting undermined good work the Engineers did in other aspects of the game against Hanover.
The Engineers came out on the wrong end, 55-43. -
Efficient Engineers stifle Millikin
The word that probably best describes the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team is efficiency.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball regains Clabber Girl Trophy
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Balanced Rose tops Fontbonne
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Rose-Hulman men's basketball preview: Engineers looking to follow up last year’s success
It’s pretty safe to say that expectations for the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team have not been this high since the late 1990s when the Engineers reached the NCAA Division III tournament three times within a four-year period.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball preview: Engineers continuing to improve
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team didn’t dominate many opponents last season when it ended up with records of 9-18 overall and 6-12 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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Earlham tragedy leads to Rose football cancellation
Little did Rose-Hulman’s football players and coaches know, their 42-8 home victory over Anderson University last Saturday turned out to be their final game of the season.
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This weekend's Rose-Hulman vs. Earlham football game canceled
Due to Friday's tragic events involving three Earlham College students, the football game between Earlham and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been canceled.
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Anderson squeaks past Rose-Hulman
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Rose swimmers near top because of vets, youth
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A bigger taste?
On the night of Oct. 14, Rose-Hulman basketball fans were treated to something described by a couple of men’s players as “spectacular” and “epic” when they all jammed into Hulbert Arena for the insititute’s first “Midnight Madness” to tip off a season.
The memorable site wasn’t a 360-degree dunk or a no-look, behind-the-back pass.
It was Rose men’s coach Jim Shaw performing the “Bernie Dance,” based on the deceased character from the 1989 movie “Weekend At Bernie’s.”
“For a second, I thought he was having a seizure,” senior starting guard Austin Weatherford said with a straight face later. -
Rose women picked for 6th
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of league coaches released Tuesday.
Hanover and Franklin were selected for first and second respectively, with just two poll points separating the two squads. -
Rose-Hulman no match for Franklin
Franklin showcased its No. 23 NCAA Division III ranking from d3football.com in a 56-0 victory over Rose-Hulman in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football Saturday.
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Rose blanks Woods 3-0 in women’s soccer
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It has so far.
Led by freshman Hayley Gilliam, a Zionsville native, the Engineers improved to 5-4-1 for the season with a dominant 3-0 victory against cross-county rival St. Mary-of-the-Woods College on Wednesday at Jim Rendel Field. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Engineers dominate HCAC honors
Rose-Hulman Institute student-athletes earned three Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards, in results released by the league office on Monday.
West Vigo graduate John Burt was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Schaible the Special Teams Player of the Week in football, and B.J. Thompson earned Player of the Week honors in men’s soccer.
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Snyder throws for two early TDs in Rose-Hulman victory
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Rose’s record setter
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