CALVIN SPORTS REPORT for Saturday, November 24
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Round one of the "Battle of the Beltline" went to Cornerstone as the Golden
Eagles used a come-from-behind effort to top Calvin 90-84 Saturday night in the
championship game of the Fifth/Third Classic Saturday night at the Van Andel
Arena. The two non-conference rivals will meet again, Tuesday, December 4 at
Cornerstone.
The victory by Cornerstone was just its second over Calvin in 12 tries in a
series dating back to 1986. It also marked Cornerstone's first-ever Fifth/Third
Classic title and Calvin's fourth straight appearance in the tournament
championship game.
In addition, Saturday night's contest featured a rematch of last year's
Fifth/Third Classic championship game. A year ago, Calvin came up with an 85-81
victory, using a handful of key plays in the final minute to secure the win.
In Saturday night's contest, Cornerstone (7-1) came up with a number of key
plays down the stretch to pull out the win. Junior Bryan Edwards keyed the
Cornerstone surge down the stretch as he came up with four points, two rebounds
and two steals in the final 3:31 of regulation. Edwards finished with 19 points,
9 rebounds, six steals and four assists to earn tournament MVP honors.
Ranked second in the latest NAIA Division II national poll, Cornerstone jumped
out to a 13-2 lead in the opening moments of the game but Calvin (4-1) outscored
Cornerstone 20-8 over the next seven minutes to take a 22-21 lead. The Knights
kept up the pace the remainder of the half to take a 46-41 halftime lead.
Ranked ninth in the latest D3hoops.com Division III national poll, Calvin
maintained its lead through the first six minutes of the second half but fell
behind 58-57 with 12:15 remaning. The lead then changed hands four times over
the next five minutes with Cornerstone regaining the lead for good on a bucket
by Justin VandePol that put the Golden Eagles up 74-72 with 7:01 remaining.
After seeing Cornerstone up its lead to five points, Calvin closed the deficit
to one point at 78-77 on a three-point play by junior Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo
Christian) with 3:54 to go. After falling behind by five points again, Calvin
battled back to within two on a pair of free throws by sophomore Chris Prins
(Escondido, CA) with 1:56 remaining.
Calvin would get no closer however as Cornerstone outscored Calvin 8-4 over the
final minute-and-a-half of play to gain the win.
Calvin was led by Veenstra who poured in a game-high 26 points along with seven
rebounds and four assists. With his 26-point effort, Veenstra moved past Kim
Campbell and Jim Timmer and into 10th place on the all-time Calvin scoring list.
Sophomore Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian) was next for Calvin, scoring 15
points in his first varsity start while Prins added 14 points and three steals.
Veenstra and Prins were both named to the all-tournament team and were joined
on the all-tourney squad by Edwards and Mark Zichterman of Cornerstone and John
Flynn and Jason Baeur of Grand Valley.
Calvin finished Saturday night's game with a 47.1 percent field goal
percentage. The Knights were just 6-of-28 (21.4) from three-point territory and
connected on 12-of-18 (66.7) free throw attempts. Cornerstone hit on 46 percent
of its field goal attempts and held a large advantage at the free throw line,
connecting on 27-of-33 attempts for an 81.8 percent clip. The Golden Eagles
were also 5-of-15 (.333) from three-point range and outrebounded Calvin 35-34.
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday night when it travels to Division III
non-conference rival Wheaton for a game scheduled to begin at 8:30 pm EST
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin and Aquinas etched their names in the Grand Rapids sports history books
by becoming the first small college women's basketball teams to play a game in
the Van Andel Arena. The historic day also turned out on a winning note for the
Calvin women's basketball team as the Knights defeated Aquinas 67-58 in the
consolation game of the Grand Rapids Press Tournament. Cornerstone went on to
defeat Saginaw Valley State in the championship game Saturday afternoon.
Calvin (2-2) trailed 12-7 in the opening six minutes of the game but then
ripped off a 19-2 scoring run over a four-minute span to build a 26-14 lead with
9:55 remaining in the half. Calvin then outscored the Saints (3-3) 14-10 over
the final eight minutes of the first half to build a 40-22 halftime lead.
Senior Tara Bergsma (Calvin Christian) and sophomores Katie Corner (Catholic
Central) and Kim Wolthuis (South Christian) helped fuel the 19-2 Calvin scoring
run as Bergsma scored six points, Wolthuis seven points and Corner four points
in the scoring spurt.
Calvin shot 57.1 percent in the first half while holding Aquinas to 33.3
percent. The Knights also forced Aquinas into 17 first half turnovers.
In the second half, Aquinas began to chip away into Calvin's lead but could
never get closer than seven points. Calvin was held to a lone three-point field
goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half but still held a 43-34 lead
heading into the final 10 minutes of play. Calvin then stepped up its offensive
game down the stretch, scoring 24 points in the final 9:28 of regulation with
key three-pointers by junior Tricia Dyk (Western Michigan Christian) and
freshman Rita Ouwinga (McBain Christian) lighting the Calvin offensive attack.
Calvin was led in scoring by Wolthuis who pumped in 20 points along with six
rebounds, three assists and three steals in 36 minutes of action. Corner was
next with 14 points and eight rebounds while Ouwinga tossed in 10 points and
collected a pair of steals in her first collegiate start. Dyk added eight
points, three assists and two steals whilel Bergsma also had eight points along
with a game-high five steals. Aquinas was led in scoring by Elli Giesa who had
16 points.
Calvin finished with a 49 percent field goal clip and shot 76.2 percent
(16-of-21) from the line. Aquinas also hit 16-of-21 free throw attempts but
shot just 33.3 percent overall and committed 27 turnovers.
Calvin returns to action Tuesday night when it hosts Grace (IN) Tuesday night
at the Calvin Fieldhouse in a game scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.
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