Otterbein's Kevin Shay, Jeff Gibbs and Tony Borghese combined for 75 points to lead the Cardinals to a 102-83 win over Elizabethtown and their first Division III Men's Basketball Championship March 16 at Salem, Virginia.

Trailing 74-72 with eight minutes left, Otterbein went on a 16-0 tear in the next 3:30 to take an 88-74 lead and seal the victory. Borghese had eight points during the run, making one three-pointer and all five of his free-throw attempts.

Elizabethtown twice led by double digits and held a 54-48 advantage at halftime.

"The game itself for three quarters was the way we wanted it to be," said Elizabethtown coach Bob Schlosser. "When they made that run, I thought we gassed out a little. It was nothing we didn't do, but what they did. They made some good shots."

Gibbs, the tournament's most outstanding player, also dominated the boards, hauling in 25 rebounds for the winners, who finished the season 30-3. Shay scored a game-high 29 points, while Borghese scored 21 points, including 11 of 14 free throws, and had eight assists.

"This group of young people exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete," said winning coach Dick Reynolds. "I was proud of the way we held our poise in the first half and withstood the onslaught of the fast-tempo pace. We had people step up in the second half, and that is what it takes to win the national championship game."

Despite his game-high scoring performance, Shay gave most of the credit to Gibbs, who had 30 points the night before in the 70-66 win over Carthage in the semifinals.

"Our philosophy coming into the season was Jeff was going to score when he got the ball," Shay said. "When he got doubled, someone else was going to have to step up and tonight it just happened to be me and Tony (Borghese)."

Gibbs' 83 rebounds during the tournament set a record, erasing the old mark of 67 set by Willie Parr of LeMoyne-Owen in 1975. The championship's most outstanding player also averaged 16.6 rebounds per game in the tournament, breaking the record of 15.3 shared by Kevin Clark of Clark (Massachusetts), who set the mark in 1981, and Andre Foreman of Salisbury, who equaled it in 1992. The 6-3 senior had 15 rebounds in the semifinal win over Carthage the day before.

Shay, Elizabethtown's Bob Porambo and Carthage's Seth Hauben and Jason Wiertel joined Gibbs on the all-tournament team.

For Elizabethtown, also playing in its first championship game, Porambo and Brian Loftus scored 17 apiece. The Blue Jays finished the season at 29-3.

In the third-place game, Wiertel's 33 points led Carthage over Rochester, 72-51.

SEMIFINALS

Otterbein 70, Carthage 66

Carthage: Antoine McDaniel 9-19, 0-0, 5, 19; Rob Garnes 5-15, 6-8, 14, 16; Bart Fabian 4-12 ,0-0, 2, 12; Jim Oboikowitch 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Jason Wiertel 3-8, 4-4, 4, 10; Tim Shorts 1-1, 0-0, 1, 3; Johnny Meier 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Scott Steger 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ryan Hargesheimer 2-2, 0-0, 2, 4; Theo Powell 1-3, 0-0, 2, 2; TOTALS: 24-62, 10-12, 33 (2 team), 66.

Otterbein: Tony Borghese 1-5, 2-2, 0, 5; Kevin Shay 7-13, 0-0, 6, 17; Robert Mock 1-2, 0-0, 8, 2; Jeff Gibbs 13-25; 4-6, 15, 30; Scott Hadley 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0; Kyle Walton 2-4, 2-2, 2, 7; Phil Susi 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; Mo Ross 3-9, 2-2, 6, 9. TOTALS: 27-62, 10-12, 43 (4 team); 70.

Halftime: Carthage 40, Otterbein 36. Three-point field goals: Carthage 8-25 (McDaniel 3-8, Garnes 0-1, Fabian 4-12, Wiertel 0-1, Shorts 1-2, Meier 0-1); Otterbein 6-15 (Borghese 1-2, Shay 3-5, Gibbs 0-1, Hadley 0-3, Walton 1-1, Ross 1-3). Disqualifications: None.

Elizabethtown 93, Rochester 83 (ot)

Rochester: Tim Sweeney 1-7, 2-2, 5, 5; Jeff Joss 2-7, 1-2, 0, 7; Seth Hauben 16-25, 7-11, 18, 39; Gabe Perez 1-6, 0-0, 0, 2; Ryan Kadlubowski 2-4, 0-0, 4, 4; Justin Hughes 1-3, 0-0, 0, 2; Matt Conacher 4-6, 1-2, 5, 9; Andy Larkin 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brian Jones 4-7, 0-0, 11, 8; Makedo Wissen 3-10, 1-4, 3, 7. TOTALS: 34-75, 12-21, 50 (4 team), 83.

Elizabethtown: Rocky Parise 1-2, 4-6, 1, 7; Chad Hiller 6-12, 5-5, 4, 18; Brian Loftus 4-6, 6-8, 3, 14; Bob Porambo 7-9, 2-3, 2, 21; Jon English 9-14, 1-3, 4, 19; Ian Daecher 2-5, 4-4, 2, 8; Jim Barron 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Brian Marquette 2-4, 1-2,0, 6; Darryl Brown 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Justin Edwards 0-0, 0-0, 0,0. TOTALS: 31-52, 23-31, 23 (5 team), 93.

Halftime: Elizabethtown 36, Rochester 31. End of regulation: Tied at 75. Three-point field goals: Rochester 3-13 (Sweeney 1-5, Joss 2-6, Wissen 0-2); Elizabethtown 8-15 (Parise 1-1, Heller 1-4, Loftus 0-1, Porambo 5-6, Marquette 1-3). Disqualifications: Sweeney, Wissen.

THIRD-PLACE GAME

Carthage 72, Rochester 51

Carthage: Antoine McDaniel 3-10, 2-2, 4, 10; Rob Garnes 3-7, 3-3, 5, 9; Bart Fabian 2-6, 0-0, 9, 5; Jim Oboikowitch 1-2, 2-2, 6, 4; Jason Wiertel 13-27, 7-7, 7, 33; Bernard Middleton 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Tim Shorts 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2; Johnny Meier 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Pat Kalamatas 0-1, 2-2, 2, 2; Orlando Wilson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Trevor Cockayne 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Paul Reiff 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Scott Steger 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Ryan Hargesheimer 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0; Theo Powell 3-3, 1-2, 1, 7. TOTALS: 26-65, 17-18, 43 (4 team), 72.

Rochester: Tim Sweeney 3-6, 0-1, 0, 8; Jeff Joss 1-6, 0-0, 4, 3; Seth Hauben 4-10, 1-4, 10, 9; Gabe Perez 0-5, 0-0, 1, 0; Ryan Kadlubowski 2-4, 0-0, 2, 4; Justin Hughes 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2; Matt Lyons 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Macky Berbman-Clark 0-0, 0-2, 0, 0; Brendan McAllister 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ryan Mee 1-4, 0-0, 1, 3; Matt Conacher 2-6, 2-2, 5, 6; Brian Jones 5-6, 2-4, 4, 12; Ross Briggs 2-3, 0-0, 0, 4; Makedo Wissen 0-2, 0-1, 3, 0. TOTALS: 21-54, 5-14, 36 (6 team), 51.

Halftime: Carthage 39, Rochester 25. Three -point field goals: Carthage 3-15 (McDaniel 2-5, Fabian 1-5, Wiertel 0-2, Cockayne 0-1, Reiff 0-1, Steger 0-1); Rochester 4-12 (Sweeney 2-3, Joss 1-3, Perez 0-1, Hughes 0-1, Mee 1-4). Disqualifications: None.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Otterbein 102, Elizabethtown 83

Otterbein: Tony Borghese 4-11, 11-14, 3, 21; Kevin Shay 10-20, 5-6, 5, 29; Robert Mock 1-2, 0-0, 2, 2; Jeff Gibbs 9-18, 7-10, 25, 25; Scott Hadley 3-5, 0-0, 8, 6; Joey Starling 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Micheaux Robinson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Kyle Walton 2-2, 2-2, 2, 7; Phil Susi 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mike Fry 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Mo Ross 4-8, 0-0, 3, 12; Matt Carpenter 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Neil Hohman 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 33-66, 25-32, 49 (1 team), 102.

Elizabethtown: Jim Barron 1-5, 2-2, 0, 4; Chad Heller 2-9, 4-4, 5, 9; Brian Loftus 7-15, 1-1, 6, 17; Bob Porambo 7-15, 1-2, 7, 17; Jon English 6-11, 2-3, 4, 14; Ian Daecher 3-4, 4-6, 2, 10; Rocky Parise 4-11, 0-0, 0, 9; Brian Marquette 1-5, 0-0, 3, 3; Darryl Brown 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Justin Edwards 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS: 31-75, 14-18, 35 (7 team), 83.

Halftime: Elizabethtown 54, Otterbein 48. Three-point field goals: Otterbein 11-24 (Borghese 2-6, Shay 4-9, Hadley 0-2, Walton 1-1, Ross 4-6); Elizabethtown 7-26 (Barron 0-1, Heller 1-4, Loftus 2-6, Porambo 2-5, Parise 1-6, Marquette 1-3, Edwards 0-1). Disqualifications: None.