JANUARY 17, 2001
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin's propensity for slow starts at home reared its ugly head once
again and this time it spelled defeat as the Knights were stunned by
Albion 77-68 in front of 3,026 fans Wednesday night at the Calvin
Fieldhouse.
The Albion victory snapped Calvin's 21-game MIAA conference win streak
along with Calvin's 18-game homecourt win streak. The loss was Calvin's
first at the Calvin Fieldhouse since a 75-72 loss to Defiance in the
MIAA Tournament semifinals February 26, 1999.
Ranked second in the Great Lakes Region, Calvin drops to 12-3 overall
and to 3-1 in the MIAA while Albion, ranked sixth in the Great Lakes
Region, improved to 12-4 overall and to 3-1 in the MIAA.
The Wednesday night defeat also increased the magnitude of Saturday's
game with rival and now league-leading Hope as the Flying Dutchmen
improved to 4-0 in the MIAA with an 88-69 victory over Alma Wednesday
night in Holland.
Ranked fourth in the latest D3hoops Top-25 poll, Calvin fell behind
14-5 in the opening six minutes of the first half against Albion,
allowing the Britons to dictate the tempo in slow methodical fashion.
Calvin would gut the gap to 18-14 on a dunk by senior Josh Tubergen
(Holland Christian) at the 9:26 mark of the first half but the Knights
would get no closer the rest of the half as the Britons outscored the
Knights 22-14 over the final eight minutes of the half to take a 45-32
halftime lead.
The Knights came back to cut the deficit to single digits on five
occasions in the second half but Albion answered every surge with a big
shot of its own to quell any Calvin comeback bid. A pair of free throws
by Calvin freshman Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) pulled the Knights to
within 49-40 with 13:44 left but a three-pointer by Albion junior Eric
Serges put the Britons back up by 12 moments later. A jumper by
Tubergen allowed the Knights to creep within 58-50 with 9:24 remaining
but after a timeout, Albion senior Jon VanderWal canned a jumper to put
the Brits up by 10.
Calvin continued to battle, closing to with 66-59 on a layup by
freshman Rob Holleman (Chandler, MN) with 4:49 remaining but Albion
senior Steve Champine answered with a triple from the right wing that
again put the Brits up by 10. Calvin would finally close the gap to
four points at 69-65 on a pair of free throws by Prins with 1:12 to go
but Albion would connect on 8-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe in
the final minute of play to close out the win.
The Albion victory was its first over Calvin since 1998 and its first
over the Knights at the Calvin Fieldhouse since a 68-65 triumph in
January of 1993.
A key to the Albion victory was its defensive effort as the Britons
held the Knights to a season-low 31.1 percent (19-of-31) field goal
shooting performance including just 28.6 percent in the second half.
Offensively, Albion shot 50.0 percent overall including 54.2 percent in
the first half. Albion was 7-of-11 (.636) from three-point range and
24-of-34 (.706) from the free throw line. Calvin was 8-of-23 (.348)
from three-point range and 22-of-31 (.710) from the free throw line.
Albion also outrebounded the Knights 39-37. Junior center Andrew
Neidlinger came up with a double-double effort for the Briton with 14
points and 15 rebounds while junior guard Mike Knight had 19 points and
five assists with VanderWal scoring 13 and Serges chipping in with 11.
Calvin was led in scoring by sophomore forward Jeremy Veenstra
(Kalamazoo Christian) who collected 15 points and nine rebounds while
senior Nate Burgess (South Christian) had 13 points and sophomore guard
Bryan Foltice (Tri-unity Christian) 10 points.
Saturday's game with Hope will be the 145th meeting between the two
storied rivals with Calvin leading the all-time series 73-71 with just
five total points separating the two schools over 80 years of play.
Saturday's game will begin at 3:00 pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse and will
be televised live to a West Michigan audience by WGVU-TV
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Adrian 85, Kalamazoo 80
Hope 88, Alma 69
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-17 GAMES
Hope 4-0
Albion 3-1
Calvin 3-1
Olivet 2-2
Adrian 2-3
Alma 1-3
Kalamazoo 0-5
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
ALBION - Calvin picked up its third consecutive victory with a 66-51
victory at Albion Wednesday evening, allowing the Knights to remain a
game back of league-leading Hope. Calvin (9-6 overall, 4-1 MIAA) will
travel to Hope (13-2 overall, 5-0 MIAA) Saturday for a 3:00 pm at Hope's
Dow Center.
In Wednesday's game at Albion, Calvin led 27-25 at halftime and used a
21-12 run over the final 8:49 of regulation to pull away for the
victory.
Freshman Kim Wolthuis of South Christian High School came up with a
huge effort for the Knights as she scored a career-high 21 points along
with three steals. Wolthuis was part of a sensational backcourt effort
by the Knights as sophomore point guard Tricia Dyk (Western Michigan
Christian) scored 16 points and came up with a game-high six steals
while also dishing out a pair of assists. Junior Tara Bergsma (Calvin
Christian) added 12 points off the bench while sophomore Emily Beard
(Southfield Christian) had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Albion was led in scoring by Jocelyn Zappala who had 11 points.
Defensively, Calvin held Albion to 25.0 percent field goal shooting
(13-of-52) including just 20.0 percent in the second half. It marked
the third consecutive game that Calvin has held an opponent under 30
percent field goal shooting. Calvin finished with 15 steals with the
Britons (1-14 overall, 0-5 MIAA) turning the ball over 30 times.
On offense, Calvin shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the floor
including 48.1 percent in the second half.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Kalamazoo 84, Adrian 53
Hope 68, Alma 61
Olivet 60, St. Mary's 49
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-17 GAMES
Hope 5-0
Alma 4-1
Calvin 4-1
Kalamazoo 3-2
Olivet 2-3
Adrian 1-4
St. Mary's 1-4
Albion 0-5
-end-
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