REPORT FOR November 24, 2000
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin advanced to the championship game of the Old Kent Classic for the
third consecutive year as the Knights handed cross-town rival Aquinas a
97-66 defeat in the first round of the Old Kent Classic Friday afternoon
at the Van Andel Arena.
Calvin will face cross-town rival Cornerstone in Saturday's championship
game at 3:00 pm as Cornerstone defeated Hope 89-83 in Friday's other
first round game.
Calvin will be bidding to become the first team to repeat as Old Kent
Classic champion. Hope won the first Old Kent Classic, defeating Grand
Valley State 77-68 in 1997 while Grand Valley came back to win the 1998
tournament, defeating Calvin 89-79 in the championship game. A year ago,
Calvin defeated Aquinas 89-66 in the championship game.
Saturday's game will feature a matchup of nationally-ranked teams as the
Golden Eagles of Cornerstone (7-1) are ranked third in the first NAIA
Division II poll of the year while Calvin is ranked number-one in the
latest D3hoops.com national poll. Both teams have claimed national
titles recently as the Golden Eagles were NAIA Division II national
champions in 1999 with Calvin winning the 2000 NCAA Division III crown.
Calvin's victory over Aquinas Friday stretched its winning streak to 25
games, dating back to January of the 1999-2000 season. The Knights are
one victory short of matching the school-record for victories as the
1960-61 and 1961-62 Calvin teams combined for a 26-game unbeaten streak.
Calvin (3-0) jumped out to a 21-6 lead seven minutes into the first half
against Aquinas as the Knights forced six Aquinas turnovers and
converted 10 of their first 17 field goal attempts. The Saints (2-4)
answered with a 22-11 scoring run to cut the gap to 32-28 with 4:08 left
in the first half as the Knights committed nine turnovers during the
Aquinas comeback.
Calvin then outscored Aquinas 5-2 over the final four minutes to take a
37-30 halftime lead.
Aquinas continued to hang around in the opening minutes of the second
half, trailing 52-44 with 12:48 left. Aquinas would get no closer
however as the Knights used suffocating defensive pressure to rip off a
lightning-quick 24-7 run to build a 76-51 lead with 7:47 left. Senior
Nate Burgess (South Christian) fueled the Calvin explosion with eight
points including a pair of three-point buckets.
Calvin cruised from there, outscoring Aquinas 21-15 over the final
minutes to complete the victory.
Five Calvin players reached double-figures in scoring led by sophomore
Bryan Foltice (Tri-Unity Christian) who pumped in a game-high 18 points.
Sophomore Dave Bartels (Kalamazoo Christian) was next for Calvin with a
career-high 16 points off the bench, converting 7 of 10 field goal
attempts in 19 minutes of play. Senior Brian Krosschell (Grand Rapids
Christian) sophomore Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo Christian) and Burgess
added 11 points apiece.
Aquinas was led in scoring by Kyle Pohja who collected 16 points while
Derek Weaver added 13.
Calvin shot 55.9 percent overall (38 of 68) including a blistering 63.9
percent in the second half. In addition, the Knights were 9 of 19
(.474) from three-point range including 7 of 10 in the second half.
Aquinas shot 40 percent overall (26 of 65). In addition, Calvin
outrebounded Aquinas 39-30 with Veenstra leading the Calvin board attack
with seven rebounds.
Both teams struggled with turnovers as Aquinas turned it over 27 times
with Calvin committing 23 turnovers.
Saturday's championship game will be the first of two meetings between
Calvin and Cornerstone in a rivalry that has been dubbed "The Battle of
the Beltline." In addition to Saturday's game, Calvin will host
Cornerstone on Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
Saturday's game will also mark the third game of the week against an
MIAA opponent for Cornerstone as the Golden Eagles suffered their first
defeat of the year this past Tuesday, falling 99-95 in overtime at
Albion.
-end-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Nov 24 2000 - 19:20:12 EST