SB The Michigan Daily -- SportsMonday - November 15, 1999 'M' freshmen show up Team Prestige Crawford, Gaines combine for 28 last night Tortoise-like Michigan steadily finds success by David Den Herder Daily Sports Writer Team Prestige was taken to school at Crisler Arena last night. The class? Michigan 101. As in Michigan 101, Team Prestige 74. With a showtime-style perfor- mance from their two freshman guards, Jamal Crawford and Kevin Gaines, the Wolverines eclipsed the century mark for the first time in two years, albeit in an exhibition victory Ho, hum, says Brian Ellerbe. The story lies elsewhere. "Obviously, we can score," Ellerbe said last night. What was more impressive wasn't a high stat, but a low one. With only nine turnovers, the Wolverines sliced last Wednesday's ugly total of 28 by more than two-thirds. "Even the ones we made could have been avoided," Ellerbe said. "It seemed like every time we got up 12 or 13 we had a transition opportuni- ty.," But Michigan had trouble pulling away. After the Wolverines went on a 14-4 run in the first half - capped by two straight Gavin Groniger 3- pointers and a Josh Asselin dunk Team Prestige clawed within six at halftime. "Kevin (Gaines) pushes it so hard, you don't want to take that from him," Ellerbe said. "But he's got to make a couple better decisions, and make some easy plays." Gaines looked decidedly more comfortable at point last night. He combined with Crawford for a total of 28 points, and, perhaps more inter- estingly, 12 assists. Several times, junior center Asselin was the beneficiary of Crawford's and Gaines' generous play. Most notable was a circus-style no looker from Crawford under the hoop to Asselin for a dunk late in the game. "That's the way they play," Ellerbe said. "They break people down and make people better - they're not selfish guys." Asselin had no problem picking up the rhythm of his guards. He finished with a team-high 16 points -- and one assist as the middle man on a pretty give-and-go with Crawford. Not to be outdone by the flashy play of his classmates, LaVell Blanchard racked up 14 points including two 3-pointers, and shared total rebound honors with Gaines - each had seven. Groniger finished with 14 points and a team-high three steals. His scrappy play earned him a poke in the eye in the second half, but Groninger said he will be fine for the season opener Friday against Oakland. Sophomore Leon Jones, who started at forward, finished with 13 points and two assists. "It was a good measuring stick for us," Ellerbe said of the final game in the exhibition season. "But now it's for real." Yesterday's basketball box score. Page 2B. By Ryan C. Moloney Daily Sports Writer TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - They say that facts tell the story. But if you see the results of Saturday's Great Lakes Regional as gospel, you aren't getting the whole picture. And that is an injustice. Here were the Wolverines, the "come- back kids," the Little Engine that Could, the David to Wisconsin's Goliath, halfway through the race and still hang- ing with the two lead packs. At that exact moment, it looked like the Old Man was finally going to get his marlin, and Michigan and Wisconsin fans alike started to get that knot in the stomach - this was coming down to the wire and their team might not win. There was little Mike Wisniewski, his plight emblematic of the Wolverines' season - for much of the race, the 5-foot- 8 junior was neck and neck with two Wisconsin runners who looked better suited for the three and four spots on a basketball team than a cross country squad. Here was the upstart Tom Caughlan, taking it out like a rocket in the first two miles - prey to the excitement of it all but wishful in thinking there was enough gas in the tank to keep it up. "It was an adrenaline thing" Caughlan said. "I didn't even feel the first mile." How about Steve Lawrence and Jay Cantin? The seniors gutted it out with the lead pack for the entire race, waiting to make the move that all distance runners, no matter how seasoned, dread. The end surge. Alas, it was not to be on this day. The Badgers were too strong, too tall, too tough. And above all, too rested.. "We didn't rest up for today'' Warhurst said, while scanning the result sheet. "Mike was running so fast today, but he could have beat this guy right here if we hadn't trained hard this week:' Not to draw upon a tired analogy, but the Wolverines have taken to the long- term approach of the tortoise this season. Now steady progression is the goaL as opposed to the shoot-'cm-up mentality of the past two years. "Two years ago, if we didn't come in and kick everybody's ass, it was like 'what happened?" Lawrence said. "Now when we do well, it's a surprise for people: There's satisfaction in doing the best you can with what you've got. In that respect, this Michigan team is enjoying the best season of their careers. There isn't exactly a category for that on a result sheet, is there? 0 MEtN Continued from Page 16 extremely confident in qualifying for the championships one way or the other, and so they all ran extremely con-' servative races. "It would have been nice to win," Michigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "But next week is more important than this week. This week is to qualify and get out of here without sprained ankles, pulled muscles or just having your kids so beat up that they can't recover." Cantin said that everyone in the lead pack - all from teams apparently run- ning conservatively - were a bit con- fused during the race, not knowing how their coaches wanted them to run. "Everybody was just waiting for something to happen," Cantin said. Whatever the strategy, both he and Michigan's other co-captain, Steven Lawrence, who finished sixth, were both extremely satisfied with their runs. "It was definitely my best race of the season," Lawrence said. "I think I'm coming around and it's the right time of year to do so" With Saturday's race being the first of the NCAA meets, most coaches were beginning to taper their workouts dur- ing practice to save their runners' strength for the big meets. Warhurst, on the other hand, trained his team hard regularly throughout the week, planning to begin to lower the distances early this week, and in doing so, keep them better prepared for the more important race. As a result, Michigan ran several tired runners - a point that should prove inconsequential with today's selection announcement. "I think we worked a lot harder than most of these teams since conferences," said sophomore Tom Caughlan, who finished fifth on the team, and 27th overall. But Caughlan's main concern is adjusting to the new level of competi- tion that comes with the NCAA Championships. "Mentally, you've just got to prepare yourself for the most pain you can pos- sibly go through," he said. "Nationals is 250 crazy bastards who have been fired up since December of last year and everyone just goes balls-out." As expected, junior John Butsic did not race, the result of an injured ankle suffered earlier this week in practice. WOMEN Continued from Page 113 event's history. "It's going to run pretty quickly," McGuire said before the race. "The early pace is going to be fast, and the kids that aren't there at the start need to make their move in the second and third kilometer." McGuire was right - the race moved at a considerable speed. Wisconsin sophomore Erica Palmer established herself as the leader within the first 200 feet. As she did at the Big Ten Championship two weeks ago, Palmer provided her midwestern audi- ence with a sneak preview of the show she will bring to nationals. Her time of 16:52:20 eclipsed the former meet record - 17:02, set last year by current Michigan assistant coach Katie McGregor - by nearly 10 full seconds. "I don't really care about it," McGregor said of her fallen record after the race. "I'm just really proud of our team. It took a large effort from everyone." For their own part, the 15th-ranked Wolverines were not able to keep 19th- ranked Michigan State at bay for the. second meet in a row. In a race that Wisconsin was expected to win, Michigan and Michigan State raced for second place, and its accompanying automatic bid. As Michigan's No. 1 runner all sea- son, junior Lisa Ouellet, fell out of the team's top spot, battling a case of the flu, junior Katie Clifford assumed the burden of team leader and raced to a surprising fifth-place individual finish. "I went into the race thinking I could to do this," Clifford said. "I have the confidence to run up with those- top girls. Right after the first 'K', I saw that I was in the lead for the team, and I had to keep moving up." In spite of Ouellet's illness, the Michigan women were pleased with their performance and confident that it was strong enough to earn them an at- large bid. "Two points is the bat of an eyelash," McGuire said. "Two points - it's like missing the game-winning field goal by an inch. The fact that we're a very close third will get us in. If we get the call (today) we can continue to move for- ward. Right now it's sort of a limbo feeling." Things are far from definite when it concerns the NCAA's ability to select teams for the postseason. For better or for worse, McGuire's feeling of limbo will be relieved by a phone call today. Should it fail to qualify for the national meet, Michigan will look back on the 1999 season finale with mixed emotions. "Just about everyone had their best race of the season," McGregor said. "But sometimes your best just isn't good enough, and that's the worst feel- ing ever. To think that (not qualifying for nationals) is a possibility is just real- ly disheartening." I I The Howard R. Marsh Center for the Study of Journalistic Performance presents a public lecture by Jeffrey Cohen Columnist, Commentator and Founder of FAIR (Fairness -& Accuracy in Reporting) "Media Bias and Censorship in the Era of the Conglomerates" Monday, November 15, 1999 at 4:00 P.M. Founder's Room - Alumni Center Please contact the Department of Communication Studies (764-0420) for more information. 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