CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR February 4, 2004
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin exercised three years of regular season futility against Albion College with a 100-65 victory over the visiting Britons Wednesday night at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
The victory was Calvin's first regular season win over Albion since the 2000-2001 season and its first regular season win over Albion at the Calvin Fieldhouse since the 1999-2000 season. In addition, Calvin snapped a four-game losing skid against the Britons while also ending Albion's current five-game win streak. Prior to Wednesday night, Calvin's last victory over Albion had been a 69-61 win the 2002 MIAA Tournament semifinals.
The game was evenly matched through the first 8 minutes of play, as each team struggled to generate any offense and Calvin (12-8, 5-3 MIAA) led just 15-13 at the 12 minute mark. From there it was all Knights, and Calvin broke away from Albion (14-6, 5-3 MIAA), outscoring them 29-7 over the next 12 minutes to take a 44-20 lead into the break. The Knights blanketing defense forced the Britons to shoot a dismal 26.5% (9-34) from the floor in the first half, while Calvin connected on 53% (18-34) of its shots.
The collective hot hand of the Knights never cooled in the second half, as they traded buckets with the Britons before pulling away for good in near the 10 minute mark. Calvin used consecutive 7-0 and 10-0 runs to take a commanding 72-38 lead with 10 ½ minutes to go. The Knights took their largest lead of the night on a Mike Natelborg three-pointer with just under a minute remaining that extended the lead to 37 at 100-63.
The Knights were a sizzling 59%(17-29) from the field in the second stanza, while Albion improved to 46% (15-33).
Calvin connected on 56% of its shots from the field, including 56% (9-16) from beyond the arc. The Knights were nearly perfect from the free-throw line on 21 of 22 (95.5%) shooting, while Albion ended the game with 36% shooting from the field. Calvin outrebounded the Britons 43-27, with senior Ryan Smalligan (East Grand Rapids) pulling down 9 boards.
Junior Dan Aultman (Mason County Central) led the Knights with 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe. Senior Kevin Broene (Grand Rapids Christian) added 17 points, while sophomore Brian Roelofs (Delaware County Christian) matched a career-high with 9 points.
The Britons had two players in double-figures, as senior Sean Davis (Chelsea) netted 17 points and junior Michael Thomas (Saginaw) added 10.
Calvin returns to action this coming Saturday in a Homecoming game against Kalamazoo at 3 pm. The Knights have dropped two consecutive Homecoming match-ups but still maintain a 13-2 record over the last 15 Homecoming games. Both losses came at the hands of Albion. In their last meeting with Kalamazoo, Calvin came away with its first victory at the Anderson Athletic Center in four trips, topping the Hornets 78-62.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Hope 87, Adrian 83
Olivet 67, Kalamazoo 66
Tri-State 106, Alma 98 (non-conference)
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-4 GAMES
Hope 6-1
Adrian 5-3
Albion 5-3
Calvin 5-3
Olivet 4-4
Kalamazoo 2-6
Alma 0-7
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
NOTRE DAME, IN * The winning streak is now 14 games for the Calvin women's basketball team as the Knights rolled to a 65-42 triumph at St. Mary's Wednesday night. Calvin (16-3 overall, 9-1 MIAA) remains a half-game behind league-leading Hope in the MIAA standings as the Flying Dutch (10-1 MIAA) defeated Adrian 65-52 Wednesday night.
Ranked second in the first NCAA III Great Lakes Regional poll of the year, Calvin used a 14-0 run early in the first half to build an 18-3 lead and take control of the game. Calvin led 36-18 at halftime and led by as many as 27 points in the second half .
Defense was the story for the Knights as they held the Belles (6-14 overall, 1-8 MIAA) to just 27.3 percent field goal shooting including just 20.7 percent in the first half. Calvin forced 23 St. Mary's turnovers and held a 52-33 rebounding edge including 24-13 in the first half.
Junior Kristen McDonald (West Catholic HS) led the Knights with 15 points and dished out five assists while committing only one turnover in 26 minutes of action. A member of this week's D3hoops.com National Team of the Week, freshman Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS) also stretched her double-figure scoring streak to 11 games with 10 points while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and blocking four shots. Junior Lesa Holleman (Chandler, MN) also had a big evening as she matched a career scoring high with 11 points off the bench.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Kalamazoo at 12:30 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse as part of a Calvin Homecoming doubleheader with the men's team.
First NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Rankings of 2004
(Released 2-4-04)
1. Hope (18-3)
2. Calvin (16-3)
3. Franklin (15-4)
4. Pittsburgh-Greensburg (16-3)
5. Thomas More (16-5)
6. DePauw (15-3)
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Albion 71, Kalamazoo 38
Hope 65, Adrian 52
Alma 72, Tri-State 50 (non-conference)
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-4 GAMES
Hope 10-1
Calvin 9-1
Albion 8-3
Kalamazoo 5-5
Alma 4-5
Adrian 2-8
Olivet 1-8
St. Mary's 1-8
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Feb 4 22:57:30 2004
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