CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR Wednesday, January 31, 2002
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Playing in front of a Calvin Fieldhouse crowd of more than 3,800 fans, Calvin
dug down in the final eight minutes of play to gain a 71-65 win over Kalamazoo
that it had to have in order to stay atop the MIAA standings.
The Calvin win bumped Kalamazoo out of a three-way tie for first place and
allowed the Knights to remain tied with Hope for the league lead at 6-2 in
conference play. Kalamazoo dropped a game back at 5-3 but remained a half
game ahead of Albion which slipped to 4-3 in the MIAA with a 62-61 loss to
Olivet Wednesday night.
With just three minutes remaining in the first half Wednesday night at the
Calvin Fieldhouse, it appeared that the Knights might pull away as they held a
34-21 lead on the strength of a 7-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from the
left wing by junior forward Rob Dykstra (Tri-unity Christian). Kalamazoo
(13-8 overall) refused to fold as it found another gear to score the final
seven points of the half to close to within 34-28 at the break.
Another triple by Dykstra with 14:37 left to play put the Knights up 47-40
but Calvin's offense then stagnated while Kalamazoo caught fire, outscoring
the Knights 10-1 over the next four minutes to take a 49-48 lead on a
fast-break layup by junior guard Nathan Burns with 10:33 showing on the clock.
The lead then exchanged hands twice before the Knights went ahead to stay on
a bucket by sophomore forward Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) with 8:10 to go,
After a Kalamazoo timeout, Calvin came up with a key defensive stand as
Dykstra stole a pass down low and fired a baseball pass to junior forward
Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo Christian) speeding down the floor. Veenstra took
the pass and finished the break with a one-handed slam, much to the delight of
the Calvin faithful with 6:43 left. Veenstra then converted a pair of free
throws and converted a jumper in close that gave the Knights a 61-55 edge at
the 5:03 mark.
A three-pointer by sophomore forward Rob Holleman (Chandler, MN) later put
the Knights up 64-57 with 3:29 to go but the Hornets answered right back with
a three-pointer by junior guard Dirk Rhinehart to stay within four at 64-60.
The game then reached a critical juncture when Veenstra was whistled for his
fifth foul with 1:45 left and seconds later, Kalamazoo junior Scott
Montmorency converted a layup to bring the Hornets to within two points at
64-62.
With time ticking down on the shot clock, Prins then came up with one of the
biggest plays of the game as he tossed in a left-handed shot in the lane among
a crowd of Kalamazoo defenders. The bucket by Prins came with just 51 seconds
remaining and gave Calvin (15-5 overall) a 66-62 lead. Kalamazoo then
misfired on a three-point shot with Calvin gaining the rebound and over the
final 33 seconds of play, Calvin converted five of six at the free throw line
to close out the win.
With the win, Calvin also reached the 15-win plateau for the 18th straight
year while stretching its win streak to four games. The Knights were led by
Veenstra who collected 21 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and two
steals. Prins was next for Calvin with 15 points including a pair of crucial
three-point shots in the second half. Dykstra was also terrific for the
Knights wtih 2 points, six rebounds and three steals as was sophomore point
guard Josh Berghuis (Unity Christian) who came up wiht a career-high nine
points and a pair of steals off the bench.
Kalamazoo was led in scoring by Dirk Rhinehart who tallied 13 points while
younger brother Erik Rhinehart had nine points on the strength of three
trifectas. Senior Nate Troyer also had 10 points and three assists for the
Hornets.
Calvin finished with a 39.6 percent field goal clip and held a 33-31
rebounding edge over Kalamazoo. The Hornets shot 41.1 percent overall and
committed 18 turnovers including 13 turnovers in the first half. Calvin also
held a huge advantage at the free throw linenailing 22 of 29 attempts for a
75.9 percent clip while Kalamazoo was a perfect 10 of 10 at the line.
Calvin returns to action Saturday when it travels to Orchard Lake St. Mary's
for a non-conference game scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm.
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-30 GAMES
Calvin 6-2
Hope 6-2
Kalamazoo 5-3
Albion 4-3
Olivet 4-4
Adrian 3-5
Olivet 3-5
Alma 0-7
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin saw its two-game win streak come to an end as the Knights suffered a
73-53 loss at Kalamazoo Wednesday evening.
Calvin trailed by just five points at 31-26 at halftime but the Hornets (15-5
overall, 6-3 MIAA) outscored Calvin 18-8 in the opening five minutes of the
second half to take a 49-34 lead and take control of the game in the process.
Calvin (9-10 overall, 4-5 MIAA) trailed by 18 points at 56-38 before mounting
a 10-3 run to creep to within 11 at 59-48 with 6:39 remaining. The Knights
would get no closer however as the Hornets outscored Calvin 14-4 over the
final six minutes of regulation to close out the win.
Calvin was led in scoring by freshman guard Kristen McDonald (West Catholic)
who tossed in 10 points including a pair of three-pointers off the bench while
sophomore guard Kim Wolthuis (South Christian) and junior center Emily Beard
(Southfield Christian) came up with eight points apiece. Sophomore forward
Katie Corner (Catholic Central) led Calvin in the rebounding department with
six boards.
Turnovers proved to be Calvin's undoing as the Knights committed 26 turnovers
which led to 18 Kalamazoo points. Kalamazoo's starting five also proved to be
too much for Calvin to handle as four Kalamazoo starters reached
double-figures in scoring with Vanessa Larkin leading the way with 22 points
and eight rebounds while Niki Grubb had 12 points and Alissa Johnston and
Amanda Weishuhn 10 points apiece.
Calvin held a 39-36 rebounding edge but shot just 36.4 percent from the floor
while Kalamazoo shot 49.2 percent overall including 53.1 percent in the second
half.
Despite the loss, Calvin remains in fifth place in the MIAA standings, a game
behind 5-4 Albion. Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it travels to
St. Mary's for an MIAA contest at 3:00 pm.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES Wednesday
Olivet 60, Albion 58
Hope 67, Adrian 62
Alma at St. Mary's postponed until February 3 because of weather
MIAA STANDINGS THROUGH 1-30 GAMES
Hope 8-1
Adrian 6-3
Kalamazoo 6-3
Albion 5-4
Calvin 4-5
Alma 3-5
St. Mary's 2-6
Olivet 1-8
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 30 2002 - 23:13:19 EST