UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio. - The No. 17 Elmhurst University men's basketball team fell, 78-93, to #10 Calvin Friday evening in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

With the loss, Elmhurst finishes the 2023-24 campaign with a 22-6 overall record, and a 12-4 mark in CCIW play. Elmhurst won the CCIW Tournament for the third time in the past five seasons, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time under John Baines.

Elmhurst was unable to handle a hot-shooting Calvin squad, giving up 13 three-pointers with the Knights shooting 56.5% from beyond the arc in the contest. Paired with an off-shooting night from the Bluejays, Elmhurst bowed out of the tournament in the opening round.

A pair of seniors led the Bluejays, with John Ittounas scoring 21 points and six assists, while Quinn Pemberton scored 14. Ocean Johnson and Matt Woloch tallied 11, while Tagen Pearson added nine and Jonathan Zapinski collected seven.

Calvin (23-4, 12-2 MIAA) had two scorers eclipse 20 points, with Jalen Overway collecting a game-high 24 points and Luka Ressler tallying 21. As a team, Calvin outpaced Elmhurst from the field (57.9% to 37.9%) and the boards (38-26), ultimatley giving the Knights the opening-round win.

After both teams missed multiple shots to open the game, Calvin went on a 12-2 scoring run to lead with 15 to go in the opening period. A trey from Ittounas and a pair of shots from Woloch and Zapinski pulled Elmhurst within three, 16-13, but the Knights answered yet again to increase their lead back to 13 with eight minutes to go. Ittounas and Woloch yet again provided a spark for the Bluejays, keeping Elmhurst within distance, but a pair of threes from the Knights to end the first half put them up 15 into halftime.

It was more of the same for the designated home team to begin half two, with the Knights answering each Bluejay basket with one of their own to maintain a healthy double-digit lead for a majority of the second period. Elmhurst wouldn't go down without a fight, as the Bluejays cut the lead to ten with less than two minutes to go on a basket from Kyran Mitchell, but the deficit proved to be too tall and the Bluejays fell, 78-93.

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