February 13, 2002
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Faced with the possibility of falling out of the MIAA title hunt, Calvin
stepped up and delivered one of its most passionate defensive performances and
in the process, the Knights put themselves right back into the league
championship picture.
Fueled by a swarming defensive effort, Calvin (18-6 overall) came up with a
78-64 victory over rival Hope Wednesday night in front of a sell-out crowd of
4,500 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse. The victory was Calvin's sixth straight
over Hope and it allowed the Knights to move back into a tie for first place in
the MIAA standings with the Flying Dutchmen at 8-3 in league play.
Both teams will close out their MIAA regular season campaigns on the road
Saturday afternoon as Calvin travels to Alma and Hope journeys to Albion.
Calvin can clinch a share of the MIAA title with a win at Alma Saturday and
along with it, the top seed for next week's MIAA Tournament. For Hope to gain
the top seed of the MIAA Tournament, the Flying Dutchmen need a victory over
Albion and a Calvin loss to Alma. Should Calvin and Hope both lose Saturday, a
three-way tie for the MIAA regular season championship will be created between
Calvin, Hope and Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo finished its MIAA regular season campaign
at 8-4 with an 86-67 win over Olivet Wednesday night. In the event of a
three-way tie for the league crown, Calvin would still own the overall
tie-breaker edge and would gain the top seed for the MIAA Tournament.
Holding a 17-16 advantage with 10:58 remaining in the first half, Calvin broke
loose on offense, reeling off an 18-4 scoring run to build a 35-20 lead with
6:07 left in the half. Sophomore Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) sparked the Knight
outburst with eight points and a steal in the scoring stretch. Hope (17-7
overall) fought back to within single digits as freshman Greg Immink connected
on a three-pointer at the 2:16 to close the score to 42-33. After a Calvin
timeout at the 1:58 mark, Prins broke free in the corner and tossed in a
three-pointer to put the Knights up 45-33. Calvin junior Rob Dykstra (Tri-unity
Christian) then added a free throw and Immink converted on a layup to leave the
score at 46-35 at intermission.
Hope shot 48 percent in the first half including 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from
three-point range but the Flying Dutchmen were plagued by 10 turnovers in the
opening 20 minutes that led to 15 Calvin points.
In the second half, Calvin used a hanging jumper in the lane by sophomore Josh
Berghuis (Unity Christian) to go up 52-39 with 14:10 left on the clock. Calvin
would then go scoreless over the next three minutes but would hold Hope to just
one field goal defensively to maintain a double-digit lead. Junior forward
Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo Christian) then broke the Calvin scoring drought with
a steal and subsequent three-point play to give the Knights a 55-41 lead.
Trailing 66-55 with 4:40 to go Hope went on a mini 6-2 scoring run with Immink
converting a jumper and junior center Don Overbeek nailing a shot in the paint
and adding two free throws a few moments later to allow the Flying Dutchmen to
creep to within 68-61 with 3:41 remaining. Veenstra was able to help quell the
Hope comeback however as his putback off a missed Calvin shot put the Knights up
70-61. After a Hope free throw Calvin senior Jon Potvin (Gladstone) followed
with a floating runner in the lane to put the Knights up 72-62.
Calvin would then convert six of eight free throw attempts in the final 1:33 of
play to close out the win.
Calvin was led in scoring by Prins who collected 20 points and five rebounds,
finishing just three points short of a career scoring high. Veenstra was next
with 16 points and 11 rebounds to notch his 22nd career double-double and extend
his double-figure scoring streak to 42 games. Dykstra was also superb, scoring
11 points and snaring nine rebounds while also picking up three assists and a
steal. Hope was led in scoring by junior guard Chad Carlso who chalked up 16
points but just two in the second half. Junior Mike VanHekken was next for Hope
with 14 points while Overbeek recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12
rebounds while Immink picked up 11 points, four steals and three assists off the
bench.
Calvin finished the game with a 41.7 percent field goal clip and went 21-of-29
(.724) at the charity stripe. Hope shot 41.1 percent overall but just 34.5
percent in the second half. Hope did outrebound Calvin 38-37 but the Flying
Dutchmen commited 20 turnovers while the Knights turned the ball over just 11
times.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 64, Alma 41
Kalamazoo 86, Olivet 67
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-13 GAMES
Calvin 8-3
Hope 8-3
Kalamazoo 8-4
Albion 6-5
Adrian 5-6
Olivet 4-7
Alma 0-11
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
Adrian at Olivet
Calvin at Alma
Hope at Albion
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin's upset bid against the nationally-ranked Flying Dutch of Hope came up
just short as the Knights bowed to Hope 62-55 Wednesday night at Hope's Dow
Center.
Calvin (12-11) jumped out to a 17-6 lead over the third-ranked Flying Dutch
with 11:22 left in the first half. Hope (21-1) then rattled off nine unanswered
points over the next four minutes to close to within 17-15 at the 7:02 mark.
Back-to-back buckets from sophomore Katie Corner (Catholic Central) allowed the
Knights to stay ahead at 21-18 but the Flying Dutch then closed out the half
with a 9-3 run to take a 27-24 lead at intermission.
A jumper by senior forward Tara Bergsma (Calvin Christian) allowed the Knights
to close to within two at 34-32 with 13:02 to go but Hope again answered with a
run, reeling off seven unanswered points to build a 41-32 lead. Calvin was able
to claw back into the Hope margin over the next four minutes, using a field goal
by junior center Emily Beard (Southfield Christian) with 7:07 remaining to close
to within 46-43. A three-pointer by freshman Kristen McDonald (West Catholic)
then pulled the Knights to within 50-48 with 4:23 remaining and a jumper by
junior Tricia Dyk (Western Michigan Christian) at the 3:01 mark would pull
Calvin to within a point at 52-51.
Hope junior Amy Baltmanis anwered with a key jumper and senior Laura Poppema
tossed in two subsequent free throws to put the Flying Dutch up 56-51. Another
bucket by McDonald brought the Knights to within 56-53 with 49 seconds remaining
but Hope would then connect on all six of its free throws attempts in the
closing seconds to put the game away.
Calvin was led in scoring by Beard who picked up 10 points, 12 rebounds and
five blocked shots to notch her fifth career double-double. McDonald was next
for the Knights with eight points while Dyk and freshman Rita Ouwinga (McBain
Christian) had seven points apiece with Dyk adding five assists.
Hope was led by Poppema and senior Amy Brower who notched double-doubles with
Poppema picking up 12 points and 14 rebounds and Brower 11 points and 11 boards.
Senior Becky Sutton added 11 points for Hope.
Calvin shot just 36.8 percent overall but limited the Flying Dutch to just 30.6
percent field goal shooting including just 26.8 percent shooting in the first
half. Hope held a decided advantage on the glass however, outrebounding the
Knights 53-40 including 25-13 on the offensive end.
With the loss, Calvin dropped out of a tie for third place in the MIAA
standings with Adrian and into fourth place as the Knights fell to 7-6 in league
play. Fifth place Albion moved to within a game of the Knights with a 56-46 win
over Alma Wednesday night. Calvin and Albion are now assured of playing each
other in the first round of the MIAA Tournament February 19 but the site of the
first round game remains to be determined.
Calvin can clinch the homecourt for its first round game with the Britons with
either a win over Alma or an Albion loss to Hope Saturday afternoon. Calvin
will host Alma Saturday at 3:00 pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse while Albion will
travel to Hope.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 56, Alma 46
Adrian 70, St. Mary's 57
Kalamazoo 63, Olivet 55
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-13 GAMES
Hope 12-1
Kalamazoo 10-3
Adrian 8-5
Calvin 7-6
Albion 6-7
St. Mary's 4-9
Alma 3-10
Olivet 2-11
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Feb 14 2002 - 01:50:07 EST