CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 3, 2004
MEN'S BASKETBALL
GRAND RAPIDS * Heading into Saturday's game with non-conference rival Ferris State University, Calvin had never lost to the Bulldogs at the Calvin Fieldhouse, having won all 10 prior meetings with the Bulldogs at the nearly 40-year old facility.
With time ticking down in Saturday's tilt, Calvin's unblemished home record against Ferris State was very much in doubt but when the dust had cleared, the Knights had found the way to claim an 85-77 victory.
The win allowed Calvin to break the .500 mark for the first time since the season-opener as the Knights improved to 6-5 overall and to 11-0 against Ferris State (3-10) at the Calvin Fieldhouse which opened in time for the 1965-66 season. It also came against former Calvin All-American and two-time MIAA MVP Bill Sall who is now in his second full year as head coach of the Division II Bulldogs. In addition, Calvin now holds a 67-19 series lead against Ferris State in a series that began during the 1924-25 season. Calvin's series against Ferris State is its oldest non-conference rivalry.
The lead changed hands 15 times in Saturday's game with the final lead change going to the Knights. After a back-and-forth first half that saw the lead change hands nine times, Ferris State took a 45-44 lead on a tip-in by senior Nathan Wruble. Ferris State would hold the lead for more than 15 minutes, extending its margin to as wide as nine points at 63-54 on an alley-oop slam by senior Willie Thomas with 11:45 remaining. Another Thomas dunk, this one of the reverse variety, gave Ferris State a 70-63 lead with 9:29 remaining but Calvin began to chip away at the Bulldog lead.
A three-pointer by sophomore Andy Draayer (Denver, CO) brought the Knights to within four at 73-69 and a triple by junior Dan Aultman (Mason County Central HS) with 5:24 remaining brought the Knights to within a point at 73-72 with 5:24 left on the clock. Senior Chris Prins (Escondido, CA) then gave the Knights a 74-73 lead on a pair of free throws with 3:50 remaining. The two clubs then traded the lead four times over the next two-and-a-half minutes with the final lead change coming on a jumper in the lane by Aultman with 1:29 remaining on an assist from senior Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian HS). The Aultman basket put Calvin up 78-77 and sparked a 9-0 Calvin run to close the game.
Moments later, Calvin forced the Bulldogs into a turnover and junior Ricky Shilts was fouled with 53 seconds left. Shilts connected on both free throws to put the Knights up 80-77. Senior Ryan Smalligan (East Grand Rapids HS) then grabbed the rebound off an errant three-point shot by Ferris State and after being fouled, connected on two more free throws. Seconds later, Prins came up with a key steal and was fouled. Prins connected on one of two free throws and then added two more with 11 seconds remaining to provide the final eight-point margin of victory.
Shilts led the Knights in the scoring column with 20 points along with six assists. Prins and Aultman added 15 points apiece while Smalligan scored eight points, matched a career-high with 11 rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked a pair of shots. Broene also had eight points with Draayer collecting nine points as he was three-of-five from beyond the three-point arc.
Both teams were red-hot from three-point range on Saturday as the Knights connected on 11 of 21 attempts from three-point land for a 52.4 percent clip. Ferris State was one better, connecting on 12 of 22 three-point attempts for a 54.5 percent clip. Junior Carlton Epps was the catalyst for the Bulldogs as he was 6 of 7 from three-point range and 12 of 17 overall, en route to collecting a career and game-high 30 points., Twin brother Corey Epps tossed in 15 points off the bench with Thomas scoring 10.
Both teams were credited with 32 rebounds but the difference was at the free throw line as the Knights were 22 of 30 at the charity stripe (73.3) while Ferris State was just one of three (.333) at the line. Calvin shot a season-high 57.8 percent from the floor overall while Ferris State shot 43.8 percent from the field as a whole.
Calvin will now prepare to open its MIAA campaign Wednesday night when it hosts the Bulldogs of Adrian College at 7:30 p.m.. A year ago, Adrian handed Calvin a 61-58 defeat at the Calvin Fieldhouse that began a stretch where Calvin dropped four of five games.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
ANGOLA, IN * The clutch play of freshman Lisa Winkle allowed Calvin to escape Tri-State University with a 55-50 victory Saturday afternoon and extend its winning streak to five games.
Leading 53-50 with 14 seconds remaining, Calvin junior Kristen McDonald (West Catholic HS) went the line for a one-and-one opportunity. McDonald missed the free throw but Winkle (South Christian HS) corralled the carom and tossed in a putback with 12 seconds left to effectively clinch the victory for the Knights.
Winkle's final basket gave her a career-high total of 17 points along with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
Calvin (7-3 overall) led 28-23 at halftime against a Tri-State team that will enter the MIAA next fall. Calvin was able to build a 12-point edge at 43-31 with 11 minutes remaining on a layup by junior Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids Christian HS) but the host Thunder (1-10) fought back, using a 5-0 run to close to within a point at 51-50 with 2:58 remaining. Tri-State had a chance to take a lead with just over two minutes remaining but missed a three-point shot. Calvin senior Kim Wolthuis (South Christian HS) then stepped up and delivered a clutch jumper with 1:22 remaining to put the Knights up 53-50. Calvin then got the ball back on a Tri-State turnover, forcing the Thunder to foul the Knights four straight times to force a bonus situation. With 18 seconds left, Calvin sophomore Katherine Pettinga (South Christian HS) was finally sent to the stripe for a one-and-one but her first toss was off. The rebound went out of bounds off Tri-State however, setting up the free thro!
w try by McDonald after she was fouled with 14 seconds left.
Calvin finished the game with a 43.1 percent shooting clip but connected on just three of six attempts at the free throw line while Tri-State was 15 of 16 (.938) at the line. In addition to the 17 points from Winkle, Calvin received 11 points and three assists from McDonald and 10 points apiece from Wolthuis and Nanninga. Tri-State was led by Kayla Cheesman and Nikki Bergman who had 11 points apiece.
Tri-State held a 36-31 rebounding edge but turned the ball over 17 times and shot just 33.3 percent from the floor overall.
Calvin returns to action on Tuesday night when it hosts St. Mary's at 7:30 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse in an MIAA game.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Jan 3 18:37:50 2004
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