Willamette Outscores D'Youville at Calvin Tipoff Tournament, 108-101

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. -- Willamette University shot 52.9% from the field in the second half and held off a late rally by D'Youville College (N.Y.) to open the 2011-12 season with a 108-101 victory in the opening round of the Calvin Tipoff Tournament.

The Bearcats will play in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. (EST)/12 p.m. (PST) against host Calvin College (Mich.), which defeated Grace Bible College (Mich.), 92-88 in two overtimes in the other first round game. D'Youville will play in the consolation game on Saturday against Grace Bible at 1 p.m. (EST)/10 am. (PST).

Taylor Mounts (Sr., Wing/Post, Kailua, HI/Iolani School) led three Bearcats with more than 20 points. Mounts registered 25 points on 9 of 19 shooting and 7 of 9 at the free throw line. Ryan Meehan (Sr., Wing, Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS/MSU-Billings) accounted for 23 points, while Terrell Malley (Jr., G, Portland, OR/Roosevelt HS) tacked on 21 points.

Raysean Johnson of D'Youville led all scorers with 36 points. Jake Maryniewski earned 24 points for the Spartans.

Mounts led all players with 13 rebounds, helping WU claim a 58-43 rebounding margin. Willamette led 48-45 at halftime and held a 71-53 advantage with 14:36 remaining.

The Spartans reduced the deficit to 11 points with a 9-2 run that including five points from Maryniewski. The Bearcats answered with six points in a row for a 79-62 lead with 11:59 remaining. Willamette eventually returned to an 18-point lead, 86-68, after a layup and a free throw by Meehan with 10:18 left.

Over the next 3:42, D'Youville outscored Willamette, 14-2, as the Spartans cut the lead to 88-82. The run featured two 7-0 streaks sandwiched on either side of a Willamette basket by Oliver Hughes (Jr., Wing, Salt Lake City, UT/Judge Memorial HS) for WU. Jeff Curry scored the final nine points for the Spartans.

D'Youville eventually cut the lead to two points at 95-93 with 4:07 left, on a layup and a foul shot by Johnson, but the Spartans were unable to tie the score or take the lead.

The Bearcats tallied the next eight points for a 103-93 advantage at the 2:55 mark. The offensive surge included three free throws by Meehan when he was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3:20 remaining.

D'Youville used a 3-pointer by Maryniewski and a traditional 3-point play by Curry to reduce WU's lead to the slim margin of 103-99 with 1:50 on the clock.

Willamette scored the next four points on a layup by Avery Manu (So., W, Pocatello, ID/Highland HS) at the 1:17 mark and a layup by Mounts with 39 seconds left. The Spartans got within 107-101 on a layup by Johnson with nine seconds left. Meehan added a free throw for the Bearcats to achieve the final score.

The Bearcats connected on 47.4% of their shots from the field (36 of 76), including 18 of 34 (52.9%) in the second half. WU made just 4 of 14 three-pointers (28.6%), but sank 32 of 47 free throws. D'Youville was successful on 42.4% of its field goals (36 of 85) and finished 9 of 33 from 3-point range (27.3%). The Spartans were 20 of 28 at the line.

In addition to Mounts' 13 rebounds, the Bearcats received nine boards from Noah Ripley (So., P, Springfield, OR/Springfield HS) and seven boards from Meehan.

Ripley and Avery Manu (So., Wing, Pocatello, ID/Highland HS) each tallied 10 points, helping WU finish with five players in double figures. Manu led WU with five assists. Although Johnson and Maryniewski carried most of the scoring load for D'Youville, Curry also reached double figures for the Spartans with 15 points.

D'Youville held a short lead in the first half at 11-10 with 14:19 remaining. Later, the score was tied 13-13, before WU earned 12 of the next 14 points for a 25-15 lead with 11:21 on the clock. The Spartans pulled within five points two at 27-22 and 33-28, only to see Willamette extend the advantage to 41-28 at the 3:52 mark with eight unanswered points of its own.

WU owned a 48-38 margin with 1:27 remaining in the half following a jumper and a free throw by Derek Newhof (Fr., G, Mercer Island, WA/Mercer Island HS). The Spartans closed the half with a 7-0 run.

Two Calvin Tipoff Tournament records were set during the game. Johnson achieved a new single game individual scoring record with his 36 points for the Spartans. In addition, Willamette and D'Youville established a new mark for most combined points in a game (209).