The Calvin men's basketball team will carry an 8-3 record and a four-game win
streak into its 2005 MIAA opener next Wednesday at Adrian after capturing the
championship of the Cenex Harvest States Classic hosted by the University of
Wisconsin-River Falls.
Calvin captured the tournament title with a 62-52 victory over the host
Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons. The tournament crown is the second of the year
for the Knights who earlier captured their own Calvin Tip-Off Tournament title
on November 20.
Calvin (8-3) overcame its worst shooting performance of the year to gain the
win Thursday night. Calvin shot just 37.5 percent overall including just 31.3
percent in the first half but limited River Falls (4-7) to 31.3 percent
shooting as well while outrebounding the Falcons 47-41 including 15-12 on the
offensive glass.
"I think this game served an important lesson for us," said Calvin men's
basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Some nights, no matter how hard you
try, the shots just aren't going to fall the way they normally do but if you
dig down on defense and rebound the basketball, you'll always give yourself a
chance to win. That's exactly what we did tonight."
Calvin took an early 9-3 lead but River Falls would come back to take a 26-25
halftime lead as it outscored the Knights 11-4 over the final 5:37 of the
opening half.
Calvin then fell behind by eight at 35-27 in the opening minutes of the second
half but roared back with 10 unanswered points capped off by a layup in traffic
by senior Dan Aultman to take a 37-35 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining.
A jumper by Aultman put the Knights up 41-39 with 13:41 left with neither team
scoring over the next four-and-a-half minutes.
Calvin junior Andy Draayer finally broke the drought with a key three-pointer
off the bench and followed with his fourth trifecta of the game a minute later.
Aultman followed with a baseline jumper to give Calvin its biggest lead of the
game at 51-41 with 7:11 left on the clock.
River Falls clawed back with an 11-5 run to creep to within 56-52 with 1:59
remaining but Calvin juniors Joel Hoekstra and Kyle Trewhella stepped up with
clutch baskets with Hoekstra drilling a three-pointer from the top of the key
and Trewhella adding a 19-foot jumper with 51 seconds remaining to put the game
out of reach.
"When the money was on the line, Joel and Kyle stepped up and delivered,"
said Vande Streek. "Even though our shooting had not been great, both of
those guys were willing to take the big shots which is what you love to see as
a coach."
Aultman led Calvin with 19 points and six rebounds while Draayer had 12 points
off the bench and Trehwella 10 points. Hoekstra added nine points and five
boards. Sophomore forward Josh Meckes was also superb for the Maroon and Gold
as he ripped down a team-high 10 rebounds, scored five points and blocked two
shots.
Vande Streek also cited the play of senior Brad Sall who contributed six
rebounds, five points, three assists and two steals off the bench.
"I thought Brad Sall's play was a huge reason why we won tonight's
game," said Vande Streek. "He brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to
the floor, particularly on defense."
River Falls was led in defeat by Dan Torrez who scored 11 points while Jeff
Holt and Hans Hoeg added 10 points apiece.
Calvin will now turn its attention to its MIAA opener next Wednesday night at
Adrian with an opening tip set for 7:30 p.m. Calvin's MIAA home opener will
be Saturday, January 8 when the Knights entertain 11th-ranked and currently
undefeated Albion (10-0) at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
With an 8-3 record, Calvin will carry its best non-conference mark into its
MIAA season since the 2001-2002 season when the Knights entered the league
season with a 9-3 mark.
"We're jumping right into the thick of it next week," said Vande Streek.
"I expect every week to be a battle and next week will certainly be no
different. We've been in quite a few battles already in the non-conference
season and hopefully we'll be able to use those experiences through our
conference schedule."
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Dec 31 00:18:24 2004
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