Wbe £icigun &zil g R S 1 .. s ' AL I 0x Ro a &14 IM : I 1 W ill I Crawford: 'll be back in September' ® Electric freshman guard dispels rumors of transfer; Ellerbe scolds media By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Writer Michigan freshman guard Jamal Crawford said yesterday he is not transferring from Michigan at the end of this season. Crawford responded to published reports that suggested he was considering going home to the Seattle area to play for Washington. "I'm staying, and it's not even a question," Crawford said yesterday. "I'll be back in September." Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe benched the freshman for the first 14 minutes of the first half in Sunday's victory over Illinois because of what Ellerbe acknowledged was "a flare-up at practice" by Crawford on Friday. Ellerbe took considerable time with the media Monday to say the situation is old news, stating the incident at practice was "over" andy"a done deal" Jamal "made a mistake at practice," Ellerbe said. "He broke a rule, and now, we move on. I am sure someone else will break one" Ellerbe refused to say whether Crawford - who had started every game this season before Sunday - would return to the starting lineup for tomorrow night's game at Crisler Arena against Northwestern. But Ellerbe seldom commits to a starting lineup until gameday. In Sunday's overtime victory, Crawford scored 14 points - just three below his sea- son average - despite playing only 5:38 in the first half. The day before Friday's incident at practice, Seattle Times columnist Blaine Newnham printed numerous quotes from Crawford about the freshman's feelings of homesick- ness. "There isn't a day I don't think about Seattle," Crawford told Newnham. "To be perfectly honest, sometimes I still wish I had stayed home. "If I had to do it all over again - and I don't want to say something to make the Michigan people mad - well, I'd take more time in making my decision." Washington did not recruit Crawford as heavily as Michigan. Crawford said yesterday that the Seattle paper left out several other comments he made in the interview. "They didn't put in that I said 'Michigan was the best place for me,"' Crawford said. "I said that I missed (home), but I said it's not killing me to be here." After Sunday's non-start, Crawford said that he would definitely stay at Michigan for the season, but "couldn't predict the future." Yesterday, Crawford adopted a longer-term view, declaring he would be in a Michigan uniform when next season begins. Ellerbe said that news stories suggesting that Crawford would transfer used selected quotes from the freshman out of context. "The kid's been taken advantage of;" Ellerbe said. "He was misinterpreted. (The media) are gloating in something that has no value. There never was a story (about Crawford transferring). He never said the word 'transfer.'" The coach also stressed that Crawford has- n't come to him personally about feelings of homesickness or transferring. "He's never said one thing about transfer- ring," Ellerbe said. "The kid's here in heart, mind, body and soul." Ellerbe talked with Crawford yesterday and said there was no discussion of transferring. So far this season, Crawford has excelled for Michigan - a team that owns a 2-1 Big Ten record and a 11-3 overall mark. Playing both point and shooting guard, the 6-6 shot- inventor leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 points per contest - good enough for third See CRAWFORD, Page 5B Overtime benefits DANA LINNANE/Daily Josh Trexler turned in Michigan's best individual performance taking first in two events, as Michigan upset Stanford. s- - 'M'swimming *dunks No. 2 Stanford by 3 By Benjamin Singer Daily Sports Writer Happy 20th birthday, Jeff Hopwood. The Michigan sophomore's present was not exactly gift- wrapped. He and the rest of the Wolverines had to earn it against No. 2 Stanford. After a lackluster exhibition Friday, the Cardinal (2-2) and No. 9 Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) made their Saturday afternoon competition about as exciting as a dual meet can be. The Wolverines ended their five-meet losing streak against Stanford, beating the Cardinal, 136-106, for the first time since the 1990-91 season. "We're definitely up in the mix now," junior Scott Werner said. "The No. 9 ranking was a little low." The large, parents' weekend crowd and tough competition was just a taste of what Canham Natatorium may be like, come Olate February when Michigan hosts the Big Ten Championships. The Michigan divers played a key role in securing the Wolverines' victory. Senior tri-captain and diver Josh Trexler led the team with two first place finishes in the one- and three- meter dive, scoring NCAA zone diving qualifying marks in both events. Senior Carlos Castillo contributed with his best day as a Wolverine, placing second in the one-meter dive and third in the three-meter dive. "We must thank the divers," Urbanchek said. "They bailed us out." The Wolverines tallied six other first place finishes, includ- *ing two big upsets in sprints where Stanford expected to dom- inate. By the eighth event, the meet seemed to be slipping away from the Wolverines' grasp as Stanford led, 71-59, with two sprint events coming up. Michigan, normally a pushover in the 100-meter freestyle, finished 1-2 for the first time in five years See STANFORD, Page 3B Wright drops Big Ten tenms final By Jeff Phillips Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - Senior Matt Wright came close to becoming the first Michigan Big Ten singles champion since 1996 yesterday, but fell short in the finals, dropping a tight 7-5, 6-4 thriller to Tyler Cleveland of Iowa. Iowa's No. 1 player took the championship over Wright behind a tough forehand and an even tougher serve. * "He served really well and I just couldn't get a good return on it." Wright said. "It was his day today." Despite a tough serve, Wright was nearly able to defeat Cleveland in a match with multiple momentum swings. "My confidence is still really high," Wright said. "It was a good way to start off the season." Wright blew past his opponents in the first three rounds, losing just 10 games in his first three matches. In the quarterfinals, Wright faced fifth-seeded Illinois' Graydon Oliver. Once again, Wright proved that he was up to the chal- Olenge, by defeating Oliver in straight sets and advancing to the semifinals. Yesterday, on the final day of competition, Wright became the second Michigan player to face Royce Ramey. Like Henry Beam earlier, Wright did not have an easy time with Ramey. Wright needed a tiebreaker to win in the first set. In the second, Wright finished off Ramey Michigan 95, Ilin ois 91 (OT Hoops rebounds in second half against Illinois By David Den Herder Daily Sports Wrier In a basketball boxscore, there are two categories for free throws: those made, and those attempted. And in the free-throws-made category Sunday, Michigan was impressive. In fact, the Wolverines were record-setting. They converted 37 of 45 attempts from the line - the most ever made by the maize and blue. But perhaps the boxscore should contain one more cat- egory: clutch free throws. If it did, the stats might be able to tell the real story of this game. In all-too-familiar fashion, the Wolverines had the chance Sunday to defeat a Big Ten team in regulation. All Michigan needed to beat Illinois was one of two clutch free throws - this time from veteran Josh Asselin. But clang went the first, clang-clang went the second, and with them came another opportunity for this young team to "get overtime experience." Fortunately for Michigan, it was another good experi- ence. This week, the Wolverines needed only one over- time period to close out Illinois, 95-91, and improved to 2-1 in the Big Ten. Asselin, who admittedly contributed to Michigan's .167 season CFTP (clutch free-throw percentage), may have made up for the bricks with his second double-dou- ble of the season. "That's happened to me before, where I've made a mistake in a game," Asselin said. "I just try to make up for it in one way, shape or form. In overtime, I thought we played hard." More like hard-nosed. After eight points from Jamal Crawford and a block from Asselin, freshman guard Kevin Gaines took a stiff forearm to the nose and used his jersey to soak up most of the blood. Fans called for a flagrant foul, Illinois' Robert Archibald shrugged his shoulder (as if to,ask, "What?"), and with the game tied at 89, Gavin Groninger stepped in to take Gaines' free throws. Swish. Swish. Michigan's lead was in good hands with Asselin this time. After a quick hoop on the other end tied it up, See ILLINI, Page 5B UAVIDUOUHKNU/Uaiy Sophomore Leon Jones tiptoes along the out-of-bounds line, much like Michigan tiptoed past Illinois on Sunday, 95-91 in over- time. Jones finished with 10 points despite fouling out. Blue icers sweep Miami, seize CCHA lead By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Writer If this past Saturday's hockey game had been played in Sherwood Forest, the Merry Men - with a little help from Robin Hood - would have saved the day. And although Michigan's rather unusual 5- 1 victory over Miami wasn't played in England but in the friendly confines of Yost Ice Arena, where the Wolverines had defeated the Red Hawks 5-2 the previous night, the game played out like a fairytale anyway. The Wolverines catapulted to victory and to first place in the CCHA thanks to the sharp shooting of Saturday's fourth line, featuring two Cinderella heroes - sophomore Craig Murray and junior Krikor Arman. Murray and Arman haven't played every game this season (16 and six games respec- tively), but when given a chance, they put the puck in the net - literally. Murray played the most impressive game Wolverines ahead 1-0 early in the first period off a feed from J.J. Swistak - the freshman's first career assist. "To tell you the truth, it was kind of weird after I scored," Murray said. "It's been a year and a half, and I almost forgot what that feel- ing was like. I guess I liked it enough to get another one. "I did everything the same, but it was just clicking tonight. I waited long enough." Murray also scored Michigan's fourth goal midway through the third period, obliterating all of the RedHawks' comeback hopes. For his efforts, Murray led the team's post- game rendition of Hail to the Victors and earned the home-ice game puck emblazon with a blue 'M.' The saga continues: After Murray scored, the game took some convoluted turns that not even the best storyteller could envision. Robin Hood - also known as Michigan's top line of Mike Comrie, Andy Hilbert and Geoff pass from Comrie and shot the puck high over Miami goalie David Burleigh and into the net before it flew back out again - or so it appeared as the red goal light went off. On the ice, half the players stopped skating as Michigan began celebrating. But the offi- cials determined that the puck had clanged off the upper crossbar without ever crossing the plane. Perhaps as a result, momentum swung in Miami's favor. The RedHawks rebounded to tie the game 1-1 at the 10:39 mark of the sec- ond. The puck behaved oddly all night - though it often worked in Michigan's favor. In a dramatic about-face from the previous night when they had allowed Miami to take 39 shots on goal, the Wolverines stomped on the RedHawks' offense allowing only 10 shots. "We held up under their best attack," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We did- n't allow any point-blank shots or grade-A the go-ahead goal with 45 seconds left in the second period to give Michigan a lead it would never relinquish, Burleigh's luck ran out. Arman, scoring his first goal of the season early in the third period gave the Wolverines a two-goal lead, some energy and a little bit of breathing room. "It was a great feeling to score," Arman said. "I'm glad it came at the time it came, it was a big lift for us; we were getting a little big lax." The recognition from the weekend went to frequently unheralded athletes, but big name players were crucial too. Goaltender Josh Blackburn stayed unde- feated, 3-0-0, since his return from injury. The sophomore has stopped 68 shots while only allowing three goals. With four points, Comrie again put up the biggest offensive numbers. On Friday, freshman Robin Hood, Mike i