The NCAA News - News and Features

March 30, 1998

Undefeated Wisconsin-Platteville takes III men's basketball crown

There have been just three unbeaten champions in the 24-year history of the Division III Men's Basketball Championship. Before this year, the most recent team to do it was Wisconsin-Platteville in 1995.

Now the Pioneers have repeated the feat with their 69-56 victory over Hope March 21 in Salem, Virginia.

Wisconsin-Platteville, which finished 30-0, scored the game's first seven points -- five by Ryan Fuhrmann on a three-pointer and two free throws. The Pioneers built the lead to 37-19 late in the half before Kris Merritt's three-point play cut Wisconsin-Platteville's half-time advantage to 15.

Though Hope enjoyed a 20-18 rebounding edge in the first half, the Flying Dutchmen committed eight turnovers to Wisconsin-Platteville's one.

The Pioneers upped the lead to 20 by the first timeout of the second half. Hope's Joel Holstege, who led all scorers with 26 points, scored two straight layups late in the game to cut the margin to 11 at 62-51. After Andre Dalton converted two free throws and Fuhrmann scored off of a length-of-the-floor pass for Wisconsin-Platteville, Hope's Pat Stegeman hit a three-pointer to pull the Flying Dutchmen to within 12 at 66-54.

But Hope missed four shots after a Wisconsin-Platteville turnover and the Pioneers were able to hold on.

"We felt it was a big factor to get an early lead," said Wisconsin-Platteville head coach Bo Ryan. "We knew that if they got an early lead that they could stretch it with the style they play. Our guys showed the kind of defense they are known for."

The Pioneers held Hope to 37 percent shooting from the floor and forced 16 turnovers.

In the semifinals, Wisconsin-Platteville scored the first eight points in the first two minutes of the second half to stretch a six-point lead to 14 and cruise to an 82-68 victory over Williams (26-4). Williams cut the lead to seven twice, the last time at 59-52 on a dunk by Michael Nogelo, but Ben Hoffmann drilled a three-pointer to stop the surge.

Dalton led the Pioneers with 31 points and hit six of his eight three-point shots. Nogelo and Matt Hunt combined for 38 of Williams' 68 points.

Hope routed Wilkes, 81-61, in the other semifinal behind 35 points from Stegeman and Dan Van Hekken. The duo was 15 of 23 from the field to help the Flying Dutchmen shoot 51 percent overall. Hope bolted to a 42-18 half-time lead and never looked back. Eleven different players scored for Hope. Dave Jannuzzi led Wilkes (26-5) with 12 points.

Williams won a 105-93 shootout in the third-place game behind 38 points from Nogelo, who set a tournament record with 178 points in six games. Williams finished third for the second straight year.

The all-tournament team consisted of Hoffmann, who was named the tournament's most outstanding player, and Dalton from Wisconsin-Platteville; Holstege of Hope; Nogelo of Williams; and Wilkes' Jannuzzi.

SEMIFINALS

Wis.-Platteville 82, Williams 68

Williams: Michael Nogelo 7-16, 3-3, 10, 18; Matt Hunt 6-10, 3-3, 0, 20; Brendan McGuire 3-8, 1-2, 6, 7; Grant Farmer 0-4, 2-2, 1, 2; Jim Frew 3-7, 3-3, 4, 10; Jim Sheehy 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Mike Holland 1-2, 4-6, 1, 6; Sean Keenan 1-2, 1-1, 1, 3; Emmanuel Benjamin 0-2, 2-2, 3, 2. TOTALS: 21-51, 19-22, 30 (3 team), 68.

Wis.-Platteville: Dan Wargolet 3-10, 1-2, 5, 7; Mike Jones 2-5, 0-2, 4, 4; Travis Schreiber 2-5, 2-2, 5, 6; Ben Hoffmann 4-8, 6-6, 4, 16; Ryan Fuhrmann 2-7, 2-2, 5, 7; Andre Dalton 10-17, 5-6, 7, 31; Merrill Brunson 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0; Blake Knutson 3-4, 2-2, 3, 8; Beau Buchs 1-4, 1-2, 3, 3. TOTALS: 27-64, 19-24, 40 (3 team), 82.

Half time: Wis.-Platteville 42, Williams 36. Three-point field goals: Williams 7-21 (Hunt 5-7, Nogelo 1-5, Frew 1-4, McGuire 0-3, Farmer 0-2); Wis.-Platteville 9-14 (Dalton 6-8, Hoffmann 2-2, Fuhrmann 1-1, Brunson 0-2, Wargolet 0-1). Disqualifications: Hunt. Officials: Nick Gaetani, Frank Partykn, Ron Smith. Attendance: 3,903.

Hope 81, Wilkes 61

Wilkes: Mike Barrouk 0-5, 0-2, 6, 0; Brian Gryboski 1-2, 7-8, 4, 9; Jason Sheakoski 4-6, 3-6, 2, 11; Jay Williams 1-7, 1-2, 3, 3; Dave Jannuzzi 4-13, 3-4, 3, 12; Artie Gotzmer 2-4, 0-0, 3, 5; Chad Fabian 2-8, 0-0, 4, 4; Matt Conway 1-3, 0-0, 2, 2; Scott Cleveland 3-3, 1-2, 6, 7; Damon Heller 3-4, 1-1, 1, 7; Bill Gallagher 0-0, 1-2, 3, 1. TOTALS: 21-55, 17-27, 42 (5 team), 61.

Hope: Dan Van Hekken 7-12, 0-0, 4, 19; Kris Merritt 3-7, 0-0, 3, 6; Chris Vander Slice 1-3, 0-0, 3, 2; Joel Holstege 4-8, 0-0, 3, 9; Pat Stegeman 8-11, 0-0, 1, 16; Kyle Phelps 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0; Josh Canan 2-5, 1-2, 0, 7; Chris Formsma 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mark Bray 1-4, 1-2, 2, 3; Brandon Goodyke 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2; Leif Sporck 0-2, 0-2, 2, 0; David Meulenberg 0-0, 2-2, 0, 2; Kevin Van Timmeren 3-6, 0-3, 5, 9; Brian Paul 3-6, 0-3, 5, 6. TOTALS: 34-67, 5-13, 35 (3 team), 81.

Half time: Hope 42, Wilkes 18. Three-point field goals: Wilkes 2-15 (Jannuzzi 1-3, Gotzmer 1-1, Fabian 0-6, Williams 0-2, Barrouk 0-1, Conway 0-1, Heller 0-1); Hope 8-22 (Van Hekken 5-10, Canan 2-3, Holstege 1-4, Bray 0-2, Goodyke 0-1, Van Timmeren 0-1, Stegeman 0-1). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Gary Bova, Pat Driscoll, Paul Smith. Attendance: 3,903.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Wis.-Platteville 69, Hope 56

Hope: Pat Stegeman 2-5, 2-4, 7, 7; Kris Merritt 5-9, 1-1, 11, 11; Chris Vander Slice 1-4, 0-0, 2, 2; Joel Holstege 10-22, 3-4, 6, 26; Dan Van Hekken 3-13, 1-2, 3, 7; Kyle Phelps 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Josh Canan 0-3, 1-2, 1, 1; Chris Formsma 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mark Bray 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Brandon Goodyke 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Leif Sporck 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Kevin Van Timmeren 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Brian Paul 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 22-60, 8-13, 37 (5 team), 56.

Wis.-Platteville: Dan Wargolet 1-7, 0-0, 6, 2; Mike Jones 1-1, 2-4, 4, 4; Travis Schreiber 2-4, 5-5, 5, 9; Ben Hoffmann 4-11, 0-0, 1, 9; Ryan Fuhrmann 3-6, 3-4, 1, 10; Brad Stangel 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Colin Gassner 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brian Murphy 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Joel Beard 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Andre Dalton 3-7, 3-4, 2, 9; Merrill Brunson 6-8, 2-2, 0, 15; Blake Knutson 3-4, 2-2, 9, 9; Beau Buchs 0-3, 2-4, 3, 2. TOTALS: 23-52, 19-25, 34 (3 team), 69.

Half time: Wis.-Platteville 37, Hope 22. Three-point field goals: Hope 4-23 (Holstege 3-10, Stegeman 1-2, Van Hekken 0-6, Canan 0-2, Vander Slice 0-1, Phelps 0-1, Bray 0-1); Wis.-Platteville 4-16 (Hoffmann 1-4, Brunson 1-2, Knutson 1-2, Fuhrmann 1-1, Dalton 0-3, Wargolet 0-4). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Jerry Stone, Owen Grogan, Junior Creech. Attendance: 3,915.