(editor's note: this story was originally sent out Saturday night but due to
technical difficulties, it was not posted on the Calvin Sports Report until
Sunday afternoon.)
REPORT FOR JANUARY 19, 2002
Calvin Tops Hope in Thriller at Holland Civic Center
==by Phil de Haan, director of media relations
In a Calvin-Hope game that matched two marquee centers, Hope's 6-foot-9 Don
Overbeek and Calvin's 6-foot-7 Jeremy Veenstra (both of whom entered the
contest leading their teams in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field
goal shooting) it was a 5-11 point guard who hit some of the afternoon's
biggest shots.
Calvin's Jon Potvin, a senior from Michigan's Upper Penninsula, was 3-for-5
from the floor and added three free throws to score 12 points as Calvin
defeated Hope 70-68 at the Holland Civic Center to bounce back from a road loss
to Albion and stay in the hunt for its fourth straight MIAA title. The Knights
improved to 3-2 in league play with the win, while Hope fell to 3-2.
Potvin, the only senior to see playing time for either team, was in double
figures for the first time this season. In fact, his 12 points were two more
than the 10 points he had totaled in Calvin's previous four MIAA games. And
his trio of threes boosted his season total from eight to 11. Those threes
also came at crucial junctures in the 147th meeting on the hardwood between
Hope and Calvin.
His first three, with 9:52 left in the first half, cut a 16-11 Hope lead to
16-14 and, perhaps more importantly, snapped an 0-for-17 streak for the Knights
from behind the three-point arc. Calvin was 0-10 from three-ball range in the
second half of the Albion loss that preceded the Hope game and then proceeded
to open the Hope contest with seven straight misses from three-point range
before Potvin connected. But Potvin's final three was bigger yet, coming with
16 seconds left in the game and Calvin clinging to a 67-66 lead. When Hope
doubleteamed Veenstra, he swung the ball to Potvin who drained a 20-footer to
give Calvin a 70-66 lead that proved to be the difference.
But not before some classic Calvin-Hope moments.
On Hope's next possession guard Matt Taylor was fouled and the 88% free throw
shooter made both with 13 seconds left to cut the lead to two. Hope then
fouled Potvin, who despite being the team's best free throw shooter at 89%,
missed both ends of the double bonus with nine seconds left. Off the rebound
Hope did not call time out, having decided in the prior timeout to not give
Calvin a chance to set its defense. Pushing the ball upcourt Taylor missed a
jumper from the top of the key, but Hope regained possession when the ball went
out of bounds off a Calvin defender. With one second left on the game clock
Hope ran an out-of-bounds lob play for Overbeek who drained a 15-footer, while
hanging in the air, but just after the buzzer sounded. And Calvin escaped with
its fifth straight win against Hope, putting the all-time series record at
76-71 in Calvin's favor.
"Wow." said Calvin coach Kevin VandeStreek, who now owns a 6-6 record against
Hope and a 117-37 (76%) mark at Calvin. "This rivalry is a fun thing to be
part of. This was a hard-fought basketball game. And it's a big win for us.
Hopefully it will propel us to success."
For Hope coach Glenn VanWieren, in his 25th season as the Flying Dutchmen
mentor, the game was about a good Hope basketball team needing to learn how to
win the close games.
"I thought we were going to win," he said. "Matt (Taylor) had a good look.
He's a good shooter. We had a chance and it didn't work. We're very
disappointed to lose this game. We need to win some close games. We've had a
lot of close games that we've lost. This is a very good basketball team, but
we can be even better."
In the first half it looked as though Hope may cruise to victory. As Calvin
fruitlessly tried to get something going from the outside, Hope methodically
worked both the perimeter and the post, building a 16-8 lead with 11:07 left in
the first half behind five points from Overbeek (Calvin Christian) and five
from guard Chad Carlson (Holland High). The lead was still eight, 29-21, with
6:11 left in the half, but Calvin finished the half with an 11-3 run to take a
33-32 lead into the lockerroom, its first lead of the game. That spurt was
fueled by Grand Rapids Christian graduate Kevin Broene who scored Calvin's last
seven points, including a lay-up off a steal at the buzzer.
Broene, whose father Greg and grandfather Gene both played varsity hoops for
Calvin, picked up where he left off to start the second half, hitting a three
at the 19:44 mark and then another three with 18:00 left in the game giving
Calvin a 40-33 lead. Broene scored 13 of Calvin's 14 points to end the first
half and start the second on his way to a game-high 21 points.
Hope then cut the lead to three, at 40-37 with 16:32 left, and two, at 51-49
with 10:34 left, but Calvin answered with a 14-6 run and appeared to be in
control ahead 65-55 with 5:08 to play. Hope, however, responded. Behind some
clutch shooting and several key Calvin missed free throws the Flying Dutchmen
rattled off an 11-2 run, whittling the Calvin lead to 67-66 with 46 second left
and setting the stage for Potvin's final three.
Both teams had three players in double figures with Calvin led by Broene's 21,
followed by 16 for Veenstra (his 35th straight game in double figures) and 12
for Potvin. Overbeek scored 20 for Hope, while Carlson added 17 and Cody
Fleming chipped in with 11.
Both teams shot 42 percent from the floor, but Calvin knocked down 10-of-28
threes for 36%, while Hope connected on just 6-of-19 threes for 32%. Hope
outscored Calvin by 10 at the free throw line, converting 20-of-29 (69%) to
Calvin's 10-of-17 (59%). Calvin entered the game shooting 75% from the line,
while Hope had been shooting 70%. Hope also had a sizeable rebounding
advantage, outboarding the Knights 41-31 behind 10 for Overbeek. Veenstra had
seven boards for the Knights. He also added a team-high six assists and four
steals, while playing 35 minutes, and moved into eighth place on the all-time
Calvin scoring list (passing Duane Rosendahl) with 1,335 career points.
Calvin will host Alma on Wednesday, January 23, while Hope will host
league-leading Albion.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES SATURDAY
Albion 73, Alma 58
Kalamazoo 70, Olivet 66
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-19 GAMES
Kalamazoo 5-1
Albion 4-1
Calvin 3-2
Hope 3-2
Olivet 2-3
Adrian 1-4
Alma 0-5
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