From: Jeff Febus (jfebus@calvin.edu)
Date: Tue Dec 03 2002 - 22:18:05 EST
CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 3, 2002
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Although not pretty at times, Calvin picked up a much needed victory over
visiting Wheaton (IL) Tuesday night at the Calvin Fieldhouse, downing the
visiting Thunder 83-74.
The victory snapped Wheaton's five-game win streak dating back to last year
and enabled Calvin to avoid its first four-game losing skid since the 1983-84
season.
Coming off the sting of successive defeats to Ferris State, Wisconsin-Eau
Claire and Johns Hopkins (MD) Calvin used a spirited first half effort to take a
46-33 halftime lead. Calvin (3-3) scored the first seven points of the game and
then used a 15-2 run to take a 32-20 lead with 6:31 left in the first half.
Junior guard Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian HS) generated 10 of Calvin's
points in the 15-2 run.
After Wheaton closed to within 40-32, the Knights used a 6-1 spurt that
included a three-pointer from junior Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) and a jumper by
Broene.
Wheaton again cut the deficit to single digits early in the second half before
the Knights ripped off a 14-4 run to open a 60-42 lead with 13:02 left in the
game. Calvin then struggled through a ragged stretch where it saw its lead
dwindle to 62-55 with 7:58 remaining. Wheaton senior point guard Nate Collord
connected on a trio of three-point shots in the Thunder comeback. Wheaton would
get no closer the rest of the way however as the Knights connected on 9-of-10
free throw attempts in the final 1:17 to secure the win.
Calvin placed four players in double-figures in scoring with Broene leading the
way with 24 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Jeremy Veenstra (Kalamazoo
Christian HS) was next with 22 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots
while Prins had 15 points and senior forward Rob Dykstra (Tri-unity Christian
HS) 10 points and eight rebounds.
Wheaton junior center Joel Kolmodin of Hudsonville Unity Christian High School
led all scorers with 28 points in his return to West Michigan while Collord had
24 points on the strength of six three-point shots. Collord's 24-point effort
came nearly two years to the day after he had connected on seven three-point
shots in a 74-70 overtime loss to the Knights at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
After being outrebounded in its previous three games, Calvin took over the
boards on Tuesday night, outrebounding Wheaton 42-25 including 17-5 on the
offensive glass. Junior center Ryan Smalligan (East Grand Rapids HS) picked up
seven rebounds, four points and three blocked shots in his first start of the
year including the second start of his career.
Calvin shot 40.3 percent overall and 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from three-point
range. The Knights were also superb at the free throw line, hitting 24-of-28
attempts for a sizzling 85.7 percent clip. Wheaton was 13-of-16 at the line for
a 47.4 percent free throw clip. The Thunder also shot 44.8 percent from the
floor overall and 47.4 percent from three-point territory.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it journeys to Tri-State (IN) for a
non-conference game scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Tue Dec 03 2002 - 22:19:08 EST