CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB 23, 2002 (Part One)
Men's Basketball
On Friday, the Hope men's basketball team picked up its first-ever MIAA
Tournament victory at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
On Saturday night, the Flying Dutchmen picked up their second win at the
Fieldhouse and with it, the 2002 MIAA Tournament title.
Using a 22-4 scoring run over the final 8:50 of regulation, Hope recorded a
stunning 70--63 come-from-behind victory over rival Calvin in front of nearly
4,400 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse Saturday night. The Hope victory snapped a
six-game losing streak against Calvin and also allowed the Flying Dutchmen to
capture the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament next week.
The MIAA Tournament title is Hope's first since 1998 and its fourth in school
history. Calvin was bidding for its third straight MIAA Tournament title and
its sixth overall Saturday night but was denied by a Hope team that improved its
record against Calvin in MIAA Tournament Championship tilts to 3-0.
Calvin ends its season at 20-7, having reached the 20-win plateau for the 13th
time in school history while Hope improved to 20-6, reaching the 20-win plateau
for the 12th time in school history.
Throughout much of the first half, Calvin threatened to run away with the game
as the Knights jumped out to a 24-10 lead on the strength of a 15-2 scoring run.
Calvin would then build its lead to 17 points at 38-21 on a jumper by junior
Tony Westhouse (South Christian) with 1:52 remaining in the half. Hope would
score the final six points of the half however, using a bucket by freshman
Travis Spaman and back-to-back layups by junior Don Overbeek to close to within
38-27 at the break.
Hope then used the momentum to creep to within six points at 38-32 on another
bucket by Overbeek and then drew to within four at 41-37 on an Overbeek basket
at 16:00 mark.
Calvin responded with an 11-3 run capped off by a three-pointer from the right
wing by sophomore Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) to take a 52-40 lead with 12:03
remaining. After Hope clawed to within six points at 52-46, Calvin used a pair
of Prins free throws and a three-pointer from junior Rob Dytkstra (Tri-unity
Christian) to go up 57-46. A tip-in by junior Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo
Christian) moments later kept Calvin up by 11 at 59-48 with 9:19 left but the
Flying Dutchmen would take the momentum from that point on.
A three-pointer by senior Todd Bloemers allowed Hope to creep to within 59-56
with 6:01 to go and a basket by Overbeek with 3:27 left brought Hope to within
61-59. Calvin then missed a pair of free throw attempts and the Flying Dutchmen
took advantage as junior Mike VanHekken drilled a three-point shot from the left
wing to give Hope just its second lead of the game at 62-61 with 2:58 remaining.
Calvin would never regain the lead as the Knights missed on a three-point
attempt on its next possesion and Spaman followed with a layup to put Hope up
64-61.
A pair of free throws by Veenstra pulled Calvin to within a point at 64-63 with
2:07 left on the clock. After a defensive stop, the Knights had a chance to
regain the lead but a trio of Calvin shot attempts by the Knights inside were
off the mark with Overbeek swatting away two of the shots. Calvin still had
possession of the ball when Immink scooted into the corner and collected a steal
that led to Veenstra's fifth foul of the game and a pair of VanHekken free
throws that put Hope up 66-63. Calvin had a chance to tie but missed on another
three-point attempt with 55 seconds left. Hope then sealed the game with an
acrobatic layup by Immink and a pair of free throws by Overbeek in the closing
seconds.
All told, Calvin connected on just one of its final 13 field goal attempts
while also hitting just 2-of-6 attempts at the free throw line in the final five
minutes of play including two missed attempts on the front end of a pair of
bonus situations.
Calvin was led in defeat by sophomore Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian) who
picked up 17 points while Veenstra had 11 points and nine rebounds and Dykstra
10 points and 12 rebounds. Veenstra extended his double-figure scoring streak
to 45 games with his effort Saturday night. Hope was led by Overbeek who
dropped in 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with 19 of his points coming in the
second half. Spaman was next with 14 points while junior Chad Carlson had 11.
Calvin finished with just a 33.9 percent field goal shooting clip including
just 25.7 percent in the second half. Hope shot 46.4 percent overall including
50 percent (14-of-28) in the second half. Hope finished with 15 turnovers but
committed just five in the second half.
Saturday night's game marked the 149th meeting between the two storied rivals.
Calvin continues to lead the series 77-72. Hope's victory Saturday night also
marked its first win at the Calvin Fieldhouse since an 87-85 overtime win in
January of 1998.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Feb 23 2002 - 23:46:21 EST