Men's Basketball

BEREA, OHIO --Senior forward Shawn McCormick scored a career-high 34 points today as Baldwin-Wallace College defeated Edgewood (Wisc.), 83-59, in a first round game in the Cactus Hoop Jam Tournament in Pheonix, Arizona.

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improved to 7-2 overall. With its loss, Edgewood fell to 5-4 overall. B-W will now play Linfield (Ore.) College in the second round tomorrow at 6:45 p.m. (EST).

In addition to his 34 points, McCormick grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets also placed sophomore forward Thad Davis in double figures with 18 points and senior guard Jon Carroll with 12 markers. Edgewood placed three players in double figures, led by Craig Machut's 18 points.

With his 34 points, McCormick became the eighth player in B-W history to surpass the 1,500-point plateau and now has 1,518 career points. He is now seventh all-time. McCormick was a perfect three of three at the line and has now made 35 straight dating back to the season-opener. The victory was also the 602nd in the career of Head Coach Steve Bankson.

McCormick also scored 16 of his 34 points during a 23-2 Yellow Jacket run in the first half which turned an 18-14 deficit into their largest lead of the game of 17 points at 37-20. B-W also led at halftime, 39-29.

In the second half, B-W extended its lead early to as many as 19 points at 57-38 with 12:25 left in the game when Davis scored on a layup. The closest Edgewood would get was 11 points at 61-50 with 8:59 left when Kyle Scott canned a three-pointer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact the B-W Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. To contact Yellow Jacket Head Basketball Coach Steve Bankson, please call him at (440) 826-2039, FAX him at (440) 826-2192 or e-mail him at sbankson@bw.edu. In addition, the latest B-W men's basketball information can be obtained on our Internet Web Site at www.bw.edu/athletics.

The BALDWIN-WALLACE COLLEGE YELLOW JACKET men's basketball team travels to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in the 2002 Cactus Hoop Jam Tournament from Friday, December 27, 2002 through Monday, December 30. The Yellow jackets will open play on Thursday, Dec. 27 versus Edgewood (Wisc.) College at 2:30 p.m. (EST).

RADIO -- Baldwin-Wallace College campus station WBWC, 88.3 FM. will broadcast all Yellow Jacket home and away games in 2002-2003. The pregame show from Pheonix with begin at 2:15 p.m. (EST) Senior David Droes (Ft. Wayne, Indiana) will call the play-by-play.

The Pregame Notes -- The Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jacket men's basketball team will look to win its fourth straight game when it travels to Pheonix, Arizona to participate in the annual Cactus Hoop Jam Tournament. B-W will play Edgewood (Wisc.) College in its first game. This is the second time in three years that B-W has traveled to Pheonix to play in the Cactus Hoop Jam tourney.

The Yellow Jackets enter this game with a 6-2overall record following their 74-63 victory on December 21 in Berea. B-W has beaten Wilmington College (73-71), Mount Union College (87-83) and Marietta in consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference games.

Edgewood enters this game with a 5-3 overall record following its 68-56 win versus Dominican University on December 15 in the LMC-NIIC Challenge in River Forest, Illinois.

The Baldwin-Wallace vs. Edgewood All-Time Series -- This is the second meeting between Baldwin-Wallace and Edgewood in men's basketball. Edgewood leads the all-time series, 1-0, and beat the Yellow Jackets, 70-63, in the last meeting on December,28, 2000 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Two Years Ago at the Cactus Hoop Jam Tournament: Edgewood-- 70, Baldwin-Wallace-- 63-- The Baldwin-College Yellow Jackets lost to Edgewood College, 70-63, two years ago in the second round of the Cactus Hoop Jam Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite the loss, B-W was led by graduated senior Jason Woleben with 20 points and eight rebounds. Current senior All-OAC forward Shawn McCormick (Massillon Jackson) also chipped in 16 markers for B-W. Edgewood was led by guard Steve Williams with 20 points.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets -- The Yellow Jackets are led by Shawn McCormick, 6'0" senior guard Jon Carroll (Berea/ Midpark), sophomore forward Thad Davis (Elyria/ Open Door), 5'10" sophomore point guard Tom Harrington (North Royalton/ Parma Holy Name) and 6'3" junior forward Eric Reminder (Brunswick). Off the bench, look for veteran Head Coach Steve Bankson to play 6'3" sophomore forward Jeremy Coffey (Hudson/ Cuyahoga Valley Christian), 6'0" freshman guard Keith Aufmuth (Brooklyn), 6'0" freshman guard Greg Williams (Euclid) and 6'6" freshman forward Mark Belkofer (Millbury/ Genoa).

- Senior forward Shawn McCormick and sophomore forward Thad Davis each scored 20 points today as B-W defeated the Marietta College, 74-63, in an OACgame at the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea. A key in the victory was that B-W canned all 14 of its free throws, including eight in the final 1:17 of the contest. With the victory, Yellow Jackets improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the OAC. With its loss, Marietta fell to 3-6 overall and 0-4 in the OAC.

In addition to McCormick and Davis, the Yellow Jackets also placed senior guard Jon Carroll and sophomore guard Tom Harrington each scored 12 points.

In the first half, B-W led by as many as 13 points on two separate occassions with the last time being at 37-24 with 3:44 left when Carroll scored on a layup. B-W also led at halftime, 39-31. In the second half, Marietta got as close as three points on four separate occassions with the last time being at 66-63 with 3:05 left when senior guard Thad Skinner canned a three-pointer. Following Skinner's trey, B-W nailed its final eight foul shots. McCormick was a perfect six of six at the line and has now made 32 straight dating back to the season-opener.

The Yellow Jacket Statistical Leaders -- After eight games, Thad Davis tops the team in scoring at 17.9 points per game. He is also leading in rebounding at 6.8 rpg., shoots 63 percent from the floor (58 of 92) and has a team-leading nine blocked shots. Shawn McCormick is second in scoring at 17.4 ppg., second in rebounding at 5.4 rpg., is third with 13 three-pointers, first with 18 steals and third with 25 assists. He leads both B-W and the OAC by canning 97 percent of his foul shots (32 of 33) and has made 32 straight. Jon Carroll is third in scoring at 14.1 ppg., is second with 15 three-pointers and first with 37 assists. Tom Harrington is fourth in scoring at 10.4 ppg., second with 17 steals, first with 17 three-pointers (17 of 31 for 54.8 percent) and second with 28 assists. Eric Reminder is fifth in scoring at 9.1 ppg., third in rebounding at 4.6 rpg. and first in field goal shooting at 64 percent (32 of 50).

Scouting the Eagles-- Look for Eagle Head Coach Steve Larson to start 5'10" freshman guard Kyle Scott, 6'1" junior guard Randy Kolinske, 6'0 sophomore guard Dave Michalkiewicz, 6'6 senior forward Craig Machut and 6'8" sophomore center Greg Blaska. In addition, look for 6'5 sophomore guard Seth Cooper, 6'4 senior guard Ryan Zander, 6'1 junior guard Todd Paradis and 6'0 freshman guard Nathan Dwyer to see action alon with others.

In Edgewood's Last Game on Sunday, December 15 versus Dominican in River Forest: Edgewood-- 68, Dominican-- 56-- The Eagles were led by Craig Machut with 19 points and Randy Kolinske with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Eagles Statistical Leaders -- After eight games, Edgewood is led in scoring by Craig Machut at 18.0 ppg., first in rebounding at 5.6 per game, shoots 50.9 percent from the field and leads the team with eight blocked shots. Randy Kolinske is second in scoring with 14.5 ppg, and has a team-leading 23 three-pointers. Ryan Zander is third in scoring at 8.8 ppg. Todd Paradis is fourth at 7.5 ppg, Seth Cooper is fifth in scoring at 7.6 ppg and second in rebounding with 5.5 per game.

Bankson Reaches 600 -- Veteran Yellow Jacket Head Coach Steve Bankson won his 600th game on December 18 against Mount Union and his 601st versus Marietta. Bankson had 49 wins at the high school level, 232 at Lorain County Community College and a school-record 320 at B-W. He is the winningest men's basketball coach of all-time at the College.

McCormick is Ninth All-Time in Scoring at B-W -- Senior forward Shawn McCormick scored 20 points in a 74-63 victory over Marietta to remain in ninth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,484 points. Next up for McCormick is Terry Allerton (1964-68) who is eighth with 1,499 points.

More McCormick -- McCormick, who finished second in Division III in free throw shooting a year ago at 92.5 percent, has stepped it up and is shooting 97 percent this year on 32 of 33 attempts.

14 of the Last 15 Years -- The Yellow Jacket men have had a .500 or better record in 14 of the last 15 years, including 11 winning seasons.