CSR (Men's BBall Pulls Out Nailbiter at Adrian)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 5, 2005

MEN'S BASKETBALL

ADRIAN -- Second half comeback efforts are becoming a familiar trait for the
Calvin men's basketball team and so are victories in MIAA openers.

For the third straight game, Calvin trailed at halftime and used a second half
comeback to gain a win on the road as the Knights pulled out a 70-69 triumph at
Adrian Wednesday night in the MIAA opener for both teams.

Calvin is now 9-0 in MIAA openers under head coach Kevin Vande Streek.

Wednesday's game marked the conclusion of a rugged 10-game road stretch for the
Knights (9-3 overall, 1-0 MIAA) that saw them put together a 7-3 road mark.

Calvin senior Ricky Shilts (Kalamazoo Central HS) lifted the Knights to the win
with an off-balance eight-foot jumper in the lane with 13 seconds left to give
Calvin a one-point lead. After calling a timeout, Adrian worked the ball for a
final shot but a three-point attempt by Mark Bohlen in the closing seconds was
off the mark, allowing Calvin to escape with the win.

"Ricky's (game-winning) shot was not a designed play," said Vande Streek. "We
did not want to call a timeout beforehand to set up a play. We wanted to run
the open floor and see what we could come up with. The shot that Ricky took
was a very difficult one but he found a way to get it in and we'll take it."

Shilts finished with a team-high 15 points including eight points in the final
10:39 of regulation.

Calvin trailed by as many as 17 points at 29-12 with 9:29 left in the first
half but outscored the host Bulldogs (6-5 overall, 0-1 MIAA) 26-14 over the
final nine minutes to trail 43-34 at halftime.

Adrian would build the lead back to 10 points at 48-38 in the opening two
minutes of the second half but Calvin responded with a 14-2 run capped off by a
triple by Shilts with 10:39 left to give Calvin its first lead of the game at
52-50.

The lead would then change hands over the five times over the next eight
minutes with Adrian breaking a 66-66 tie on a jumper by Mike Lewis with 2:14
remaining. Calvin answered with a tip-in by sophomore Josh Meckes (Saginaw
Valley Lutheran HS) with 1:59 left to tie the game back up.

Adrian regained the lead on a free throw from junior point guard Jeff Nokovich
with 1:32 left on the clock and regained possession after Calvin misfired on a
shot attempt with just over a minute remaining. Meckes then came up with a key
defensive play, blocking a shot by Adrian's Brian Schaefer with 22 seconds and
also grabbing the rebound, setting up the game-winning shot by Shilts.

"Adrian is a very good team and this is one of the more difficult places to
play in the league so we're very pleased to sneak out of here with a win," said
Vande Streek. "For whatever reason, we came out very flat and lethargic in the
first 10 minutes of the game and Adrian really took it to us. We battled back
to make it respectable at halftime and in the second half, we played with great
emotion and determination."

Calvin held Adrian to just 26 points and 31 percent field goal shooting in the
second half while shooting 54 percent itself in the second half and 48 percent
(24-of-50) overall.

Shilts was one of three Calvin players to notch double-digits in scoring as
senior Dan Aultman (Mason County Central HS) has 12 points and junior Joel
Hoekstra (Unity Christian HS) 11 points. Junior Andy Draayer (Denver, CO)
added eight points off the bench.

Adrian was led by Bohlen who pumped in 16 points including three triples while
also grabbing seven boards. Schaefer was next wtih 13 points and four assists
while Lewis had 11 points and junior Billy Collins Jr. 10 points.

Calvin held a 30-27 rebounding advantage and committed 17 turnovers while
Adrian turned the ball over 13 times. Calvin was also 8 of 17 (.471) from
three-point range while Adrian was 11 of 24 (.458) from beyond the arc but just
5 of 15 in the second half. Calvin also connected 14 of 20 from the charity
stripe for a 70 percent clip while Adrian was 12 of 18 at the stripe.

Calvin will now prepare to host nationally-ranked and unbeaten Albion Saturday
at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse. Ranked seventh in the latest
D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, the Britons will carry an 11-0 record into Saturday's
contest.

OTHER MIAA SCORES WEDNESDAY

Alma 72, Kalamazoo 61
Hope 91, Tri-State 72
Albion 76, Olivet 52

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 5 23:15:21 2005