CALVIN SPORTS REPORT PART ONE FOR FEB. 22, 2002
MEN'S BASKETBALL (MIAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL RECAP)
Hang on to your Hudsonville Ice Cream.
It's time for part three of the Calvin-Hope rivalry in 2002.
For just the third time in MIAA history, the two storied rivals will meet in
the MIAA Tournament Championship game with the winner receiving the MIAA's
automatic bid to next week's NCAA III Tournament.
Both teams advanced with thrilling semifinal victories Friday night at the
Calvin Fieldhouse as Hope edged Kalamazoo 68-67 while Calvin used a furious
second half comeback to top Albion 69-61.
Saturday night's MIAA Tournament Championship game between Calvin (20-6) and
Hope (19-8) will feature the 149th meeting between the two rivals in a series
that sees Calvin holding a 77-71 series lead. In the two prior Calvin-Hope
meetings in the MIAA Tournament Championship game, Hope prevailed at the Holland
Civic Center, winning 71-60 in 1995 and then 63-62 in 1997. Hope is making its
first appearance in the MIAA Tournament Championship game since 1998 while
Calvin is making its third straight appearance in the MIAA Tournament final.
Calvin has won five MIAA Tournament titles including the last two while Hope has
captured three MIAA Tournament crowns.
Hope's victory over Kalamazoo Friday night was its third of the year over the
Hornets (17-10). Hope trailed 37-26 at halftime against Kalamazoo Friday night
and still trailed 65-59 with 3:48 remaining. Hope then used a basket by junior
center Don Overbeek; a three-pointer by junior Mike Van Hekken and a baseline
jumper from freshman Travis Spaman to take a 66-65 lead with 42 seconds
remaining. A pair of free throws by Kalamazoo junior Dirk Rhinehart with 26
seconds remaining allowed the Hornets to retake the lead 67-66 but with 1.5
seconds remaining on the clock, Hope freshman Greg Immink was fouled while
attempting a shot just outside the free throw lane. Immink then stepped up and
nailed both free throws to give the Flying Dutchmen a 68-67 lead. Hope then
stole the subsequent inbounds pass to collect the come-back win.
Kalamazoo was led in defeat by Rhinehart who recorded 18 points including four
three-point field goals while junior guard Nathan Burns tossed in 10 points off
the bench. Hope placed all five of its starters in double-figures led by
Overbeek who collected a double-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six
blocked shots. Immink was next with 13 points while VanHekken, Spaman and
junior Chad Carlson added 11 points apiece.
Kalamazoo finished with a 40.4 percent field goal clip including a 45.8 percent
(11-of-24) clip from three-point range. Hope shot 43.9 percent overall
including 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from three-point territory. Hope's biggest
advantage at was at the free throw line as the Flying Dutchmen outscored the
Hornets by 14 points at the stripe as Hope was 24-of-27 (88.9) at the line while
Kalamazoo was 10-of-11 (90.9) at the line.
In its victory over Albion, Calvin also used the free throw line to its
advantage as the Knights were 34-of-40 (85.0) at the line while Albion was
18-of-20 (80.0) at the stripe.
With just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation however, things appeared grim
for the Knights as they trailed 43-35 and had connected on just three second
half field goals after trailing 29-24 at the break. Calvin then proceeded to
rip off a 19-2 scoring run to take a 54-45 lead with 4:19 remaining. Sophomores
Mike Natelborg (Highland, IN) and Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian) keyed
the Calvin comeback. Natelborg netted four points at the free throw line in the
run while Broene picked up eight points in the spurt including a three-point
bank shot from dead-on on a fast-break opportunity that gave the Knights a 52-45
lead at the 4:48 mark and left the Calvin faithful in a frenzy.
The Knights then connected on 13-of-15 attempts at the free throw line in the
final 4:19 of regulation to hold off the Britons and gain the win.
Limited to a combined 10 points in Calvin's two prior meetings with Albion this
year, Broene led Calvin with a game-high 22-point effort including a 12-of-13
performance at the free throw line. Junior forward Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo
Christian) was next for Calvin as he tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds to record
his 23rd career double-double while extending his double-figure scoring streak
to 44 games. Sophomore forward Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) added 10 points for
the Knights while junior forward Rob Dykstra (Tri-unity Christian) matched
Veenstra's game-high rebounding total with 11 boards.
Albion (17-9) was led in scoring by senior Mike Knight who pumped in 16 points
while senior center Andrew Neidlinger added 11 points and a team-high nine
rebounds. Albion finished with a 45-36 rebounding edge on the Knights but the
Britons turned the ball over 19 times with Calvin committing just 13 turnovers.
Albion shot 31.3 percent overall (19-of-61) while Calvin connected on 30.2
percent (16-of-53) of its field goal attempts. The victory by Calvin was its
first of the year over Albion as the Britons swept both regular season meetings
with the Knights and were bidding for their first-ever three-game sweep of
Calvin.
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