The third time was unfortunately the charm. The Calumet College of St. Joseph men's basketball team welcomed Holy Cross College to the Rittenmeyer for the second time in five days, having defeated HCC 64-61 on Saturday afternoon. But it would be the Saints that would come away victorious in this one, converting on 24 of 33 free throws and using suffocating defense, to lock down the victory 88-73.
The first ten minutes of the ballgame were back and forth, but from that point on HCC (19-12, 13-8 CCAC) grabbed the lead and would hold onto it for the duration. While their lead wasn't substantial in the latter half of the first period, they would head into the locker rooms on a 25-15 run, and owners of a seven-point lead. It would be the violations in the opening 20 minutes that would help tell the story for the rest of the game. The Wave were called for seven personal fouls, many to key players, while the Saints were only whistled for one. Having to carefully watch who was being played when, the Saints took advantage of the Wave's situation, running the lead up to 11 by the 16:00 mark in the second. But the Wave weren't done. A 14-2 run allowed CCSJ (18-10, 12-9 CCAC) to claw their way within two points, before Lanozo Trammell was called for a foul and immediately assessed with a technical on top of it. This sent the Saints to the line for four straight free throws, converting each one, while Trammell was sent to the bench having fouled out. It was the turning point in the game, with HCC going on to outscore the Wave 31-17 in the time remaining. When the final buzzer sounded, it was both the game and the Wave's season that came to an end, falling to the Saints 88-73.
"They were just better than us tonight," said head coach Ryan Sexson. "You give up 50 points to Holy Cross in the second half, some teams are lucky to get to 50 in a game against them. We shot too many jump shots too. When your shooting jumpers, you're not giving them a chance to foul. Hats off. They were just better than we were tonight."
Devin Harrison (SR/Chicago, Ill.) led the team in his final game in a Calumet uniform with 20 points. Anthony Cole (JR/Gary, Ind.) pulled down nine rebounds over the course of the game, while senior Michael Brooks (SR/Chicago, Ill.) put a bow on this time with the Wave, pitching in four assists. Sexson had nothing but the best to say about his seniors. "Their sophomore year they won 19 games, their junior year they went to a national tournament. Although this year didn't finish the way we wanted it too, I think we're going to look back at it and say it was a pretty successful year overall."
Attention now turns to offseason activities, and we look forward to seeing what the Wave can bring to the table next season. Lastly, a big thank you goes out to our seniors. We wish you the best of luck in your futures, and will remember you fondly here at CCSJ.
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