Men's Basketball

Gregory Named MVP as Quakers Win Tourney Title

For Immediate Release:
Nov. 17, 2007

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Earlham College men’s basketball team may not have been the squad expected to take the championship trophy away from the Case Alumni Association Tip-Off Tournament, but the Quakers are bringing the big prize back home after a 77-72 win Saturday over Case Western University to claim the title.

“We were definitely the underdog going into this tournament,” Earlham Head Coach Jeff Justus said. “We stepped up and beat one of the most athletic teams we have played in Lake Erie, who was 25-3 last year and then we found a way to defeat a great shooting team in their own gym.”

Junior Tristian Gregory (Evansville, IN/Harrison) led the Quakers with 28 points, while three others reached double digits in the win. “Tristian’s shooting was as good as I’ve ever seen during my time at Earlham,” Justus said. “He was really outstanding.”

Gregory had 62 points in the two games and was named the Most Valuable Player. He made 12-of-21 shots from behind the 3-point line in the tourney.

Senior Neil Collins (Ft. Wayne, IN/North) finished with 10 points, which combined with Friday’s 22-point effort, earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
 
The other two players in double figures were senior Nick Welsh (Muncie, IN/Wes-Del) with 18 points and classmate Terrel Brown (Richmond, IN/Richmond), who tossed in 10. Sophomore Tarrell Berry (Indianapolis, IN/Northwest) added seven points, while leading the Quakers with 10 rebounds. Welsh grabbed nine rebounds.

Earlham trailed early in the contest 10-2 before fighting back to tie the game 13-13 when Brown drilled a 3-pointer at the 11:44 mark of the first half. The score remained close the rest of the period and the Quakers built a 29-24 edge by intermission.

In the second half, the Quakers widened their lead to 51-35 with 12:48 remaining after Gregory hit a 3-pointer. The Spartans would not quit, but they could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

The tournament championship was the third for the Quakers to begin a season in 10 years under Justus. Earlham won events at Westminster (2000-01) and at the University of the South (2002-03) to start those seasons. The last time the Quakers began the season 2-0 was in 2005-06 when they won twice in Philadelphia during the Haverford/Swarthmore Classic.

— EC —

Contact:
Don Tincher, sports information director
765/983-1795 — E-Mail Don

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This page last updated: Nov. 17, 2007