The first day of the 33rd Annual Tom Byron Classic came to a conclusion on Monday night in Murchison Gymnasium with Ripon of Wisconsin (4-2) and Westmont (6-4) advancing to the championship match on Tuesday night.
Ripon defeated Queen’s of Ontario, Canada (3-6) by a score of 64-54 behind 23 points and five rebounds by sophomore guard Scott Gillespie. Junior guard Andy Perrine added another 14 points for the Red Hawks while sophomore forward Martin Esters recorded a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Up 9-7 in the first half, Ripon produced a 9-3 run to jump out to a 15-7 lead nine minutes into the contest. But the Gaels of Queen’s turned the tables and manufactured their own 9-3 run to pull within two points (18-16) with 5:24 remaining on the first half clock. The Red Hawks took over the rest of the half, outscoring the Gaels 17-9 to take a 35-25 lead into the locker room. The ten point margin proved to be the difference in the game as the two teams played even in the second half, each scoring 34 points.
The Gaels were led by junior forward Mitch Leger with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Dan Bannister contributed another 15 points to the Queen’s cause while senior guard Ryan Hairsine produced eight points.
In the second game, Westmont’s Dan Rasp, last year’s Tom Byron MVP, notched a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. The sophomore forward made nine of 12 field goals attempts. Junior guard Matt LeDuc was perfect from the floor, making all six of his attempts on his way to 18 points.
“I’ve got to give credit for tonight’s six-for-six to my teammates,” said LeDuc. “I think every single one of them came off an assist. They gave me the ball and all I had to do was make a two-foot shot.
“Dr. (Gregg) Afman was our pre-game speaker today and talked with us about what kind of team we want to be,” continued LeDuc. “And yesterday, Coach (Moore) was asking what kind of team we want to be. We talked a lot about sacrificing and serving and how that could apply to basketball. I think every guy tried to play apply that today. Tyler (Dutton) took a lot of charges. He and C.J. (Chris Jackson) got on the ground. I think we applied what we talked about the previous two days and it showed up on the scoreboard.”
“Matt rarely plays with anything but great energy,” said Moore. “All 11 players played with great energy in the first ten minutes of the game,” said Moore. “I thought we got a little lackadaisical in the last five minutes of the first half and parts of the second half. But in terms of energy after coming off a break, I was encouraged by the way we played.”
The Warriors never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 25-7 midway through the first half. At the intermission, Westmont held a 42-27 advantage and kept Messiah at double-digit distance the rest of the game.
Junior guard Andrew Schmalbach also scored in double digits for the Warriors, posting 11 points. Junior point guard Chris Jackson contributed seven assists and three steals.
“Andrew was fabulous tonight,” said Moore. “He made few mistakes and shot the ball well. He played the way he typically plays GSAC (Golden State Athletic Conference) games. He’s warming himself up for the GSAC.”
Tuesday’s consolation game between Queen’s and Messiah will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in Murchison Gymnasium with the championship game scheduled for a 7:30 game.
“Ripon is a very well coached team,” said Moore. “I think they play very hard together. They know what they want to get and they seem to get it. They are like many Division III teams we have played before in the finals of the Byron. It’s going to be another great game.”
“We scouted Ripon in the early game,” reported LeDuc. “They run their plays well. They are a Midwest team who moves the ball. They are all about execution. I think it is going to come down to defense and execution for us versus their offense.”
Westmont has won 17 of the 32 Tom Byron Championships since they began in 1977.
