November 29, 2000
MEN'S BASKETBALL
One of the oldest records in the Calvin men's basketball books is no
longer but for most of Wednesday night's game between Calvin and
Wheaton, it appeared that the record would stand.
For the second consecutive year, Calvin handed Wheaton a four-point
overtime defeat as the top-ranked Knights used a colossal second half
comeback to edge the Thunder 74-70 in overtime in front of more than
3,000 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
With the win, Calvin stretched its winning streak to 27 games, breaking
the previous school record of 26 consecutive victories established by
the 1959-60 and 1960-61 Calvin teams. Calvin's 27-game win streak is
the longest active winning streak at any level in NCAA men's basketball.
With a 45-25 lead with 12:48 left in regulation, Wheaton (1-3) appeared
on the verge of a huge upset in front of the large crowd watching the
Knights in their home opener. Wheaton led 25-18 at halftime and
stretched its lead to 20 points behind a trio of three-point buckets
from sophomore guard Nate Collord. Calvin (5-0) proceeded to climb back
into the game over the next seven minutes as the Knights outscored the
Thunder 29-12 behind a furious full-court press that allowed the Knights
to cut the gap to three points at 57-54 with 5:44 left in regulation.
Sophomore All-American candidate Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo Christian)
scored 13 of Calvin's 29 points in the run including a three-pointer
with 5:44 left to cap the run. Senior Nate Burgess (South Christian)
was another catalyst in the comeback as he hawked Wheaton's
ball-handlers into several turnovers that led to Calvin transition
baskets.
A three-point play by Wheaton senior Luke Moo with 4:11 left put the
Thunder up 60-54. Calvin would outscore Wheaton 9-0 over the next four
minutes though with the Knights finally taking the lead at 62-60 on a
short jumper by senior Josh Tubergen (Holland Christian) with 1:11 left
on the clock. A free throw by Veenstra with 12 seconds left put the
Knights up 63-60 but Wheaton proceeded to move the ball up the floor
where Collord drained a three-pointer from the left wing with a defender
in his face to tie the game at 63-63 with 4.6 seconds left. The triple
was one of seven on the night for Collord who hit for a career-high 27
points on the strength of 7-of-15 shooting from three-point range.
Calvin had a chance to win in regulation as Veenstra found Burgess with
a three-quarter court pass with Burgess driving to the elbow and putting
up a jumper that was just off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
In overtime, Wheaton held a lead on three occasions but sophomore Bryan
Foltice (Tri-unity Christian) was able to fire in a pull-up jumper at
the free throw line with 1:31 left to tie the game at 70-70 and Tubergen
followed with a clever up-and-under move that put the Knights up 72-70
with 52 seconds left. Calvin then came up with a defensive stop and
Foltice was fouled with 11 seconds left. The lefthander connected on
both free throw attempts to clinch the victory for the Knights.
Battered and bruised by the end of the contest, Veenstra came up with a
career-high 25 points along with seven rebounds, three steals and two
blocked shots to lead the maroon and gold. Foltice added 19 points
while Burgess and Tubergen had eight points apiece.
In addition to Collord's 27 points, Kevin Blomstrom had 11 and John Helm
10 points for the Thunder in a losing effort.
Averaging 50.6 percent from the field heading into Wednesday night's
game, Calvin suffered through a 35.8 (24-of-67) percent field goal
shooting performance including a dismal 19.2 percent performance in the
first half when Wheaton's defensive pressure gave the Knights trouble.
Wheaton finished the game with a 37.3 (25-of-67) percent shooting
performance including 35.5 percent in the first half. Wheaton was
10-of-28 from three-point range with Calvin hitting 7-of-23 attempts
from behind the arc. The Knights held the edge at the charity stripe,
connecting on 19-of-31 attempts (61.3 percent) while Wheaton was just
10-of-21 (47.6 percent) at the line.
Wheaton outrebounded Calvin 47-43 with Luke Moo leading the Thunder with
eight boards while senior Brian Krosschell (Grand Rapids Christian) led
Calvin with nine boards. Both teams suffered from turnovers as Wheaton
committed 27 turnovers while Calvin turned it over 23 times.
Calvin has now won seven of the last eight meetings against Wheaton
including the last three in the long-standing non-conference rivalry
that sees the Thunder holding a 21-20 series lead. A year ago, Calvin
edged Wheaton 73-69 in overtime in the championship game of Wheaton's
Lee Pfund Classic.
Wednesday night's game marked the second consecutive defeat for Wheaton
against a top-10 ranked opponent as the Thunder had dropped an 83-72
decision to fifth-ranked Chicago on November 21.
Calvin is now 4-1 in its last five overtime games and 16-4 in its last
20 games decided by six points or less.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it travels to NAIA foe Spring
Arbor for a 3:00 pm contest.
-end-
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