TERRE HAUTE —
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.
Don’t misunderstand. A 6-foot-6, 220-pound starting forward from Greenville, Ohio, Balsbaugh has been a solid contributor to the Engineers’ 24-3 campaign, which will continue Saturday with an NCAA Division III tournament first-round matchup against Calvin College at 7 p.m. in Hulbert Arena.
But prior to Friday’s 81-59 thumping of Defiance and Saturday’s 64-59 victory over Hanover, also in Hulbert Arena, Balsbaugh was the fifth-leading scorer on the squad through 25 games.
Against Defiance, however, Balsbaugh tallied a season-high 17 points — one less than teammate Julian Strickland’s total of 18 — with the help of 7-for-10 marksmanship from the field.
Then against Hanover for the HCAC title, Balsbaugh again fired in 17 points — this time a team high — and converted 7 of 9 field-goal attempts while blocking three shots on the defensive end.
Balsbaugh, who’s still Rose-Hulman’s fifth-leading scorer with an average of 7.4 points per outing, admits he was surprised when tourney officials handed him the MVP plaque afterward.
“Julian and Austin [Weatherford], last year and this year, have been more recognized players,” he told the Tribune-Star after practice Wednesday. “So it did come kind of as a surprise. … I was pretty shocked.”
Also somewhat surprised, Rose coach Jim Shaw said he was glad to see Balsbaugh receive the award.
“We worked really hard on some adjustments in the last few weeks because when Brenton was on the perimeter, [opposing] people weren’t guarding him,” the veteran coach explained.
“To Brenton’s credit, he really internalized and executed those adjustments to make him a dangerous offensive player when people were sagging off him and playing center field. That’s one of the major reasons that he had some success — his ability to make that adjustment that we worked on with him. He also finished really well, he blocked some shots, he rebounded and defended and he was just solid overall.”
“I just tried to play hard,” Balsbaugh added modestly. “My teammates were getting me the ball in open places. I just had to finish and play well.”
Balsbaugh’s late rise to stardom shouldn’t be too big of a surprise, considering his journey to Rose-Hulman got a later start than most of his teammates.
“I went to a private school [through the eighth grade] and we didn’t have sports,” recalled Balsbaugh, who grew up with a German Baptist religious background. “Then I got into AAU ball a little bit [in the summer], so I decided to go to Arcanum [High School]. … I didn’t really know a lot about [basketball]. I hadn’t watched a lot, actually.”
One reason he hadn’t seen much basketball was that German Baptists typically don’t own televisions.
“I was a little shaky,” Balsbaugh said of his first couple years on the court. “I just tried to rebound and block shots.”
But he managed to develop his skills over time.
“He was pretty good,” Shaw said of the times he saw Balsbaugh play in high school. “He was definitely raw. In some ways, he still is. But he was the best player on his high school team. His high school had enjoyed the most success it ever had. … He was a very good high school player and a really good small-college recruit. At that point in his career, he relied on raw athletic ability because he’s long, athletic and fairly rugged.”
“I’ve been lucky to have good coaches in high school and here,” Balsbaugh pointed out. “I probably became good here [at Rose-Hulman], after I got to play with people who were better than me and go up against people who were better than me.”
There was another factor besides basketball that lured him to Terre Haute’s east side.
“I knew I wanted to do civil engineering,” Balsbaugh mentioned. “As I started to look at schools, this became the only place I could play basketball and do civil engineering.”
“We found out about him through a former Rose-Hulman player and volunteer assistant student coach [Brad O’Dell],” Shaw noted. “At the time, Brenton was dating Brad’s sister. So Brenton made some visits over here to visit Brad … and Brad’s dad was one of Brenton’s high school coaches. I knew Brad’s dad well, so the [O’Dell] family introduced Brenton to Rose-Hulman and introduced us to Brenton. … The recruiting relationship grew from there and this is the choice he ended up making.”
And that choice is paying dividends for the Engineeers’ basketball program.
“Honestly, he continues to progress,” Shaw said of Balsbaugh. “Now his progression shows in more subtle ways, such as his ability to communicate and focus in on a particular job and make adjustments on the fly. Those are all things that come with experience.
“He’s learned how to play inside, he’s a decent mid-range player and he’s been a really good defensive player inside — protecting the basket and guarding his own man all year.”
If Balsbaugh keeps forcing his presence into the Rose spotlight with guards Strickland (named this week as the HCAC’s Player of the Year) and Weatherford, Shaw hopes that could lead to an extended NCAA tourney run.
“Everybody knows that we’re built around our perimeter guys,” Shaw explained. “When we get that inside play [from Balsbaugh and others], we’re a lot more difficult to handle.”
Rose-Hulman
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Within reach: Brenton Balsbaugh fights for position and a rebound during practice Wednesday. With him is Jordan Nielson and another teammate.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis On defense: Rose-Hulman's Brenton Balsbaugh plays defense during practice Wednesday, getting ready for the first round game of the NCAA D-III tourney.
Discussion
Balsbaugh’s late-season scoring giving Rose-Hulman a lift
- 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 18-2 after pulling away from Anderson
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
Rose-Hulman improved to 14-2 overall and kept its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference lead at 8-1 with a 58-42 men's basketball victory at Franklin College on Wednesday night.
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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
Rose-Hulman reclaimed the Clabber Girl Trophy for the first time since 2009 with an 80-74 women’s basketball victory over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Tuesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Balanced Rose tops Fontbonne
Senior forward Nate Gissentanner came off the bench to deliver 14 points for balanced Rose-Hulman in a 72-54 men’s basketball victory over Fontbonne University on Wednesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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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
Anderson University scored in the 11th minute and held off a Rose-Hulman charge to earn a 1-0 men's soccer victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal match on Wednesday night at the Engineer Intramural Field.
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Rose swimmers near top because of vets, youth
Rose-Hulman swimming depth is at an all-time high, putting the Engineers at No. 15 in the NCAA Division III national rankings.
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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
Rose-Hulman women’s soccer coach Amy Helliwell is riding a youth movement to what she hopes could produce a strong turnaround in this 2012 season.
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
Rose-Hulman scored 33 points in the middle two quarters and held off a Defiance rally to earn a 33-20 victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football opener for both schools Saturday.
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Rose’s record setter
Kyle Kovach got off to a great start in Rose-Hulman’s football season opener Saturday night in what turned out to be a heartbreaking 29-28 home loss to Kalamazoo College at Cook Stadium.
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