CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2001
MEN'S BASKETBALL
There will be two rounds of the "Battle of the Beltline" this year, For the
second consecutive year, Calvin and Cornerstone will meet in the championship
game of the Fifth/Third Classic at the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids.
The contest will be the first of two meetings between the non-conference rivals
as they will also meet at Cornerstone December 4.
Both teams advanced to Saturday night's championship game with first round
victories Friday afternoon at the Van Andel Arena as Cornerstone outscored Grand
Valley State 117-108 in a record-setting game while Calvin pulled out a 79-75
win over Aquinas.
In the win over Grand Valley State, Cornerstone established new tournament
records for points scored and three-point field goals made. The Golden Eagles
(6-1) were 16-of-29 (55.2) from three-point range, breaking the previous
tournament record of 11 three-point field goals. Cornerstone's total of 117
points also eclipsed the previous tournament record of 99 points established by
Hope in 1997. Grand Valley also surpassed both records in defeat as the Lakers
(1-3) were 14-of-27 from three-point range (51.9).
Senior Mark Zichterman was one of seven players in double-digits in scoring for
Cornerstone with 23 points while senior John Flynn led Grand Valley with 26
points.
Calvin's victory over Aquinas was its second over the Saints this week as the
Knights had recorded a 104-76 victory against Aquinas Tuesday night at the
Calvin Fieldhouse. In Tuesday night's win, Calvin hit on 12-of-23 attempts
(52.2 percent) from beyond the arc but on Friday, the Knights (4-0) hit just
4-of-22 (18.2) attempts from three-point territory. Calvin led 45-40 at
halftime but could not build a margin greater than eight points in the second
half. Calvin then suffered through a five-minute dry spell in the second half
as it scored only four points, allowing Aquinas to creep to within three points
at 64-61 with 9:24 to go. A 7-3 burst capped off a by a three-pointer from the
left wing by Chuck Schuba then gave Aquinas its first lead of the second half at
68-67 with 3:45 to go.
The lead then changed hands three times over the next minute-and-a-half with
Calvin finally taking the lead for good on a bucket inside by junior forward
Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo Christian) with 1:57 to go to put the Knights up
75-73. Veenstra then came up with a steal on the ensuing Aquinas possession and
fed sophomore Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian) for a short pull-up jumper
on the break to put Calvin up 77-73 with 1:33 left to play. Aquinas closed to
within two 30 seconds later on a layup by sophomore K'Brio Kimble and then came
up with a defensive stop on Calvin to regain the ball with under 30 seconds left
to play. Aquinas came up short on its attempt to tie or take the lead however
as Kimble floated up a runner in the lane that bounced off the back of the iron.
Calvin sophomore Chris Prins snared the rebound and was fouled with 10 seconds
left. Prins proceeded to nail both free throw opportunities to put the game out
of reach.
Prins finished with a career-high 23 points along with nine rebounds while
Veenstra picked up his 16th career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Tony Westhouse (South Christian) added six points, six rebounds and
two blocked shots off the bench for Calvin. Kimble led Aquinas with 25 points
while senior Kyle Verlin had 15 and junior Andy Steketee 10.
Calvin outrebounded Aquinas 51-31but committed a season-high 21 turnovers.
Calvin will be making its fourth straight appearance in the Fifth/Third Classic
championship game Saturday night and will be bidding for its third straight
Fifth/Third Classic championship. Saturday night's championship game will begin
at 8:00 pm. The consolation game between Aquinas and Grand Valley will preceed
it at 6:00 pm.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin opened the Grand Rapids Press Tournament with a disappointing 78-51 loss
to Cornerstone Saturday afternoon at the Aquinas College Fieldhouse. The
Knights (1-2) will meet Aquinas in the consolation game of the tournament
Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm. Saginaw Valley State will meet Cornerstone in
the championship game at 3:00 pm. Both games will be held at the Van Andel
Arena, marking the first time that a Calvin women's basketball team will have
played on the downtown arena floor.
Calvin trailed 30-16 at halftime and could never muster a serious comeback in
the second half as the Golden Eagles outscored the Knights 48-35 in the second
half of play.
Calvin shot just 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the floor while Cornerstone (2-1)
shot 51.6 percent (32-of-62) overall. Calvin was also hurt by 22 turnovers.
A pair of freshmen led Calvin in defeat as Kristen McDonald (West Catholic)
scored a game-high 11 points off the bench while Rita Ouwinga (McBain Christian)
had nine points and two assists in a substitute role. Junior Tricia Dyk
(Western Michigan Christian) added eight points and three steals for the Knights
while junior center Emily Beard (Southfield Christian) hauled down a game-high
and career-high 13 rebounds but was held to just two points. Senior Tara
Bergsma (Calvin Christian) also came up with a game-high six steals for Calvin
off the bench.
Cornerstone was led by senior Julie Vogelzang who popped in 21 points and
grabbed nine rebounds while forward Maureen O'Malley scored 11 points off the
bench.
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